Ten Years Later
by notcreativeenoughtomakeone
Summary: A decade has passed since Kadic,and they've grown apart.The harsh reality of how hard the world really is hit them harder than xana ever could.Aelita gets ghostly emails as Odd comes back,Yumi buries her father while Ulrich has problems of his own.
1. Blackout

**_This is a story is a remake of the story Just a ghost in me, by Icesythe. Icesythe has given me full permission to write this and basically take over his incompleted story, he has no time to complete. Without further ado, I give you my latest story, Ten Years Later. _  
Disclaimer: I do not own code lyoko or any characters, blah blah. We know.**

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Bum bum, Bum bum, Bum bum, Bum bum, Bum bum, Bum bum, Bum bum. That hideous sound kept ringing in her ears and it seemed like it would it ever cease.

"NO!" She shrieked then looked at the land around her and then her own body. "It couldn't be" she said to herself in fear..." She was on Lyoko But how? 'Bum bum, Bum bum, Bum bum, Bum bum.'

The horrible pulsations throbbed first in her head then spread to the rest of her body. She began breathing heavily, each pulsation seeming to threaten the soundness of her program as she felt the tremors in her own body as they were increasing in intensity. She swore she could sense xana around her.

Then she ran. She didn't know where or why but anything was better than those terrible pulsations like the heartbeat of some ancient demon awakening after an years of slumber. She could feel him everywhere. The desert, The ice, the forest , and mountains. She ran and ran and ran but it was in vain.

"How?" She asked, "We shut down xana ten years ago, I watched as Ulrich deeply pierced his side. That ungodly specter fall to the virtual ground in the desert sector, and then the very monsters that he once controlled attacked him."

She shuttered. It was a sickening sight to behold as the monster of Lyoko fell once and for all at the very hand of his own creations. Xana paid a high price for leaving the super computer. He could no longer hide in his sector from the aftermath and it meant the end of him. Or that was what they thought. How could he be back. Resurrected once again to threaten all life on the planet and possibly the universe.

Suddenly she stopped. She had come to the edge of the land and stared down at the digital void below her. Turning her face she became sick. What she saw made her usual light heart stop. An entire army of xana's monsters were right there behind her. An impassable wall of Mega tanks, Tarantulas, blocks hornets, crabs, everything she had ever faced. She began calling out for him

"Jeremie, Jeremie!" she yelled expecting him to come and save any second now, but nothing.

Fear swept over her as it had never before in either of her lives, real or virtual. At the same time the creatures began to fire. She dodged the first few bit there were hundreds. She felt the lasers sting and burn, it wasn't a new lyoko sensation, but one she had become accustomed to in the real world pain.

A mega tank's blast hit her and she felt herself slide out into the Digital void all the while yelling. "JEREMIE!"

Suddenly Aelita sat up in bed covered in a cold sweat. Breathing like she had just finished a marathon. Her eyes were filled with tears and for once she was glad to see Jeremie's portrait of Albert Einstein on the bedroom wall with the little light produced by the lightning outside. It was all she had left of him after that fateful battle ten years ago.

"Oh ...God," she panted, " It was just a dream." She put her hands on her temples and shook her head trying to shake those terrible dreams but nothing worked. It was just so real. There was another flash of lighting followed by the deafening crack of thunder. Rain beat upon her single window like a storm from xana himself. He was dead and yet he was still haunting her. Aelita sat on the bed for a few moments gathering her bearings as the thunder and lightning danced a waltz of sound and light about her dark room.

" Well I guess there's no better than the present," She thought running her hands over her short pink hair and placing her feet on the hardwood floor. Her pajamas were a two piece long sleeved button up shirt and pants with a blue stripe down either leg. The cold bit into her feet until she slipped on some pink furry flippers and switched on her computer.

It was a large machine with three monitors and two hard drives to process it all place on the floor under and about the desk. As it booted up the fans made a loud whirling noise before settling down as the monitors flickered on. On the center monitor was a picture of her and Jeremie. They were both smiling and had their arms around each other and Jeremie was blushing. Aelita cracked a weak smile as she entered ninety seven characters for her password to open her uplink to lyoko. She remembered those days so well all the fun they had together the old gang. However she was startled out of the past by the sudden wave of information that flooded her monitor.

" Now is as good a time as any,"she said to herself as she cracked her knuckles and began furiously typing on the black keyboard. She watched as strings of binary flooded the monitor. She worked for what seemed like hours bypassing one security system after another before it was disrupted.

A huge blast of thunder cracked just outside of her window. Aelita felt her internal organs jarred about inside. She thought that the window in front of her would shatter, but thank god it didn't. Quickly she looked up from her monitor and out of her window only to see the damage that this storm was doing and then came a huge wave of darkness as the electricity began to flicker in the building.

"Dammit not now!" she cursed, " I'm so close!" she began typing like a woman possessed typing to beat the rolling blackout before it hit her power grid. After much pounding on the keyboard she finally did it, but as the city's network interface screen came up there was a sudden darkness and her monoter flickered and...and... everything went black. Aelita could hear the fans on the hard drives slowly spinning to a stop. Resting her head on her desk she took a deep breathe to calm herself.

" Get some sleep Aelita, check it tomorrow," she said to herself as she spun her chair around facing her bed. She walked across her room and sat on her bed, then looked at the pictures on her dresser. She saw the picture that Odd had drawn of everyone for Jeremie's birthday ten years ago. Aelita inherited that and kept it with her whenever she left. She hadn't seen anyone in ten years. Not Odd, not Ulrich, or Yumi. Pulling the blanket up to her neck she placed her left arm under her pillow and one over it to get her head comfortable, and didn't realize how tired she was until she woke up the next morning.


	2. Return to France

The phone rang in the apartment. Yumi reached over to her nightstand and pressed snooze, thinking it was the alarm. Looking at her clock she saw it was four in the morning and someone had just made her mad. Letting it ring till her machine caught it she knew she'd listen to the message.

" Sis, I know your awake now, look something happened," her brothers voice said over the speaker. Yumi looked at the phone. " Dad's dead." Yumi froze then suddenly felt weak. Yumi walked over to the machine and answered the phone and after turning off the answering machine.

" Hiroki?" Yumi asked.

" Sorry to call you so early," he said on the other line.

" It's okay. What happened to dad?" she asked. She knew he was dead but she wanted to know how.

" He was murdered," Hiroki said to her. " I'm staying at the police station for the meantime," He answered before she asked.

" I'll get there as soon as I can," Yumi said to him.

" Bye," he said then hung up the phone. Yumi dropped the phone on her couch then sat on it. She wanted to appear strong for Hiroki, but now that no one was listening or looking, she let her emotions flood.

After she cried what she had to she went to her computer then started to book a flight. She knew she had to. Though she really didn't want to. It was time to go back to France.

* * *

Ten years prior Yumi's parents filed for divorce. A lot happened that day. Jeremie had been gone for almost a week, then Ulrich got expelled from Kadic. Yumi cried her heart out when her parents got a divorce. Publically.

William decided to take advantage of that. Ulrich didn't approve and one hospital ass kicking later, Ulrich was expelled. Odd stayed at Kadic until the end of ninth grade before he had to leave for America to attend highschool. Aelita was hurt from Jeremie loss in Lyoko, so Odd tried his best to keep everyone together. He couldn't.

There was nothing left to hold them together. The one secret they all held was gone. Everyone was heading their own ways. After her parents divorced, Yumi moved to Japan with her mother, and Hiroki and her father stayed in the same place. Ulrich had to go to Germany to finish school which left Aelita alone. The last thing she wanted to be.

After that, it was quickly learned Aelita was an orphan. It wasn't long before she was picked up by a childless woman who's husband died before she could have children. The two got along perfect, even through the age Aelita was supposed to ignore her. It still upsets her that she hasn't talked to anyone since Odd moved, the last one to leave, and the only one who didn't want to.

* * *

" _We don't have choice," Jeremie said the Yumi and Ulrich who were fresh from being devirtualized._

" _Send one of us back in," Yumi said to him, then watched as Odd and Aelita kept running in sector five._

" _I can't, If I could I would. That's why I have to go in," Jeremie said to them._ _Ulrich and Yumi lowered there heads then looked at the screen. Odd couldn't hold out against the monsters for much longer. Jeremie placed the head set on the keyboard then boarded the elevator._

" _Jeremie promise you'll come back," Yumi said to him._

" _I'll come back..."_

Yumi suddenly woke up from her dream when she heard her plane would be landing. Rubbing her eyes she looked out the window and saw that they were over ground now. When she fell asleep they were still over water. In less than an hour she'd land in Paris, then have to go to the city to take care of her brother for the time being.

* * *

After he plane landed she was in a taxi and stuck in traffic, she recognized the area and knew the police station was only a few blocks away. Paying the cab driver she decided to run there instead. For some reason she felt like she should be running. Turning the corner she toppled a man who fell back, because he wasn't sober enough to catch himself.

" Sorry," she said without looking at his face then kept running. Running down the street she took another turn then saw the police station. Turning into it she ran in and looked at the officer siting at the desk wanting to be somewhere else besides the graveyard shift.

" Here to file a complaint, or bail someone out?" The officer asked lazily.

" Yumi?" She heard a voice say to her. Yumi looked to her left and saw her brother, someone she hadn't seen in ten years. Their parents couldn't afford visits. Hiroki was still shorter than his sister, but he had grown a lot. A few feet, some odd inches. He had let his hair grow to his eyes, and it curled up on the back of his neck in a very disorganized fashion.

" Hiroki," she said then walked over to him. She hugged him tightly then looked at him, and he looked at her. She looked older now. It looked like her mind and body matured over the years. Though he failed to notice her chest was out more and her hips were rounder understandably. Her hair is what stood out the most. She let it grow, till it was nearly at the back of her waist.

" Forget what a hair cut was?" Hiroki asked her. Yumi smiled then rubbed his hair.

" Look who's talking." Then they both sighed because of the reason they were both here. Their father was dead. " So what happened?"

" He was mugged and murdered," Hiroki said to her. Yumi hugged him again because he looked like he was about to cry. He was so it worked out.

" We're going to go home for okay," Yumi said to him. Hiroki nodded then they left the police department once they were clear to.


	3. Why do you hate love

" The winner is, Ulrich!" The announcer shouted as the latest victim was being dragged out of the cage. Ulrich stood there in the cage, in half a foot of sand surrounded by a chainlink fence. It was in the basement of a building, because this places events weren't exactly legal.Cage fights, for profit. People surrounded the cage from ages that spanned from fourteen to forty one. Ulrich, the twenty four year old was leaning against the fence, watching his last opponent get dragged out. He was too easy.

Ulrich's next opponent stepped into the cage. People began to shout for who they wanted to win loudly, rattling the cage around Ulrich. Today was Ulrich's first fight series in about a month. Every other month a tournament was arranged here, and Ulrich's manager entered him in.

The man who just entered was a head taller than Ulrich. He was bald, and solid muscle, meaning he was slow. Ulrich watched how he carried himself, to see his weakness. He may of been slow, but it was going to take more than a few good shots to take him out. The man looked at Ulrich with a dirty smile, like he was going to enjoy this.

" Finally, I get to take out Ulrich, the three time tournament champion," The man said, his voice not nearly as low as Ulrich thought it would be. Ulrich didn't reply, he just waited.

They heard the bell go off, then the crowd go crazy in cheering and jeering. The large man charged Ulrich and swung, but Ulrich ducked down and placed both hands on the ground and sent both heels into the mans stomach at the same time. The man fell back and in the sand with a large grunt as Ulrich went back to his feet and circled him.

Again the man charged and Ulrich punched him in the stomach. The man fell slightly, and Ulrich grabbed his arm and pulled it behind his back, holding it firm. Ulrich then felt the other elbow to the side of his eye, making him let go of the arm and wobbled against the fence. Before he could recover he was punched in the stomach, then the face, grabbed by his shirt and thrown into the sand.

Ulrich got to his knee only to feel a heel into his spine sending him to the dirt. The man grabbed the back of Ulrich head and shoved his face into the sand. Ulrich elbowed back and hooked him in the jaw, making him let go. Ulrich flipped himself around and kicked him in the face making him fall next to him. Kicking himself to his feet Ulrich kicked the man in the face, making him roll in the dirt once.

Ulrich grabbed him by his collar and pulled him up, then punched him in the face. The man wobbled and fell against the cage. Ulrich then swung a hook into his face, then continued to punch him in the face. After the tenth punch Ulrich let his collar go, then walked to the other side of the cage as the man fell to the dirt dizzy, dazed, and fading in and out of consciousness.

The crowed shouted loudly, cheering the fight they just saw as Ulrich's latest victim was carried off.

" Another victory to Ulrich!" The announcer shouted. The crowd cheered as the announcer waited for them to settle. " Three more fights, and he's the champion for the forth time consecutively in a row."

Ulrich left the cage so the next fight could get underway to find out who he'd be fighting next. Ulrich walked through the crowd and sat at the bar that was in the basement. The waitress gave him what he usually had and he sat and listened to the fight, he couldn't see it because of the crowd. He heard the sound of fists to face, and crowd's volume rise and fall with every punch.

" Good fight kid," Ulrich heard a man say to him then take a seat next to his. Ulrich looked to his left and saw his boss. The man who promoted him into the fights.

" Thanks Mr. Wilkenson," Ulrich said then leaned against the bar, taking a sip of his drink.

" You shouldn't drink before a fight," Wilkenson said to him.

" It helps numb me, so I feel less pain and can end the fight sooner," Ulrich said, gulping it down and finishing it.

" If you win the tournament, the betting will raise dramatically for you," He said to Ulrich. " Which means more money for me, which means more pay for you."

" So what," Ulrich said then dropped the drink on the bar. " I do this because I love fighting, and I need the money," Ulrich said walking away from the bar.

" Whatever you do it for, just win the damned thing," Wilkenson then walked over to his seat to watch Ulrich's next fight. Ulrich stepped back into the cage, to see more blood was on the sand. Looking up he saw his next opponent, then heard the bell. He dropped him in fifteen seconds.

* * *

" It is time for the finals! Ulrich is back, our defending champion, against new comer Blank." Ulrich examined Blank. This guy looked hard. He was the same size as Ulrich, but was solid tone muscle. He stood shirtless, his face slightly grazed from earlier fights. The mans black hair was long, but not in his eyes quite yet.

The bell sounded and Blank stood ready. He was smarter than the last guy, waiting to be attacked. Ulrich carefully circled around him, moving closer, tightening the circle around his opponent. Stepping at him once, Blank flinched, but didn't attack. Flinching was a good defence, it shows your smart enough to avoid getting hit.

Blank took a step at Ulrich who took one back. Blank then high kicked and almost made contact. Ulrich knocked the foot away then swung but had his arm caught then was flung over Blank's shoulder and collided with the cage. Ulrich fell stomach first then looked up to see Blank with his hand reaching to help Ulrich up. Ulrich smiled then allowed the help.

" That's a first," Ulrich said then went back into a defence position.

" Fighting isn't only two men beating the hell out of each other. It's honor, and sportsmanship. Never hit a man while he's down. If he's unarmed, offer him a weapon," Blank said. Ulrich smiled then nodded.

" Doesn't always go both ways," Ulrich said.

" I know." Ulrich then swung, but Blank stepped back and knocked Ulrich's fist away. Ulrich swung with the opposite hand and connected with Blank's face, making him take a step back to regain balance. Ulrich kicked and hit Blank in the stomach, making him take a few more steps back into the fence.

" What do you fight for?" Blank asked then readied himself again.

" Why do you ask?" Ulrich asked taking step back, allowing Blank to get off the fence.

" Because, you don't seem to be enjoying your work," Blank said to him.

" I'm good at it, so off course I'm enjoying myself," Ulrich said, looking for the reason he was asking him this.

" I'm bad at dancing, but I still dance, and love it. I'm good at driving, but I don't want to do it for a living," he answered. " Your good at fighting, but do you truly wish to be a fighter, when you could just as easily be a lover."

That struck a nerve for Ulrich. Ulrich hated love, it was never very kind to him. Now he just wanted Blank to shut up. Ulrich swung and Blank ducked under it and stepped to the right, then struck Ulrich between the shoulders. Ulrich fell forward and hit the fence then breathed deep.

" Why don't you like love Ulrich," Blank asked. Ulrich didn't answer he took a swing at him, and connected with the side of his face, making him wobble to the side and fall to the dirt. " It wasn't very kind to you was it?"

Ulrich took a step away as the crowd just kept watching the fight. It was becoming a conversation.

" Why do you care?" Ulrich asked him, letting him get up.

" Just curious. You seem to be rushing yourself to death as if some other thing is running your life," Blank said to him. The crowd began to throw things over the fence and to the dirt, wanting action. " Shall we entertain the animals?"

Ulrich and Blank continued to fight. Ulrich knew Blank was a better fighter, better control speed, strength, technique, even state of mind. Blank let him win. And when Blank walked away he left Ulrich with a parting words.

" Love is a fight on it's own. But you don't always have to fight to achieve it. Sometimes just waiting, keeping your eyes and ears open, it will find you." Blank then stepped out of the cage leaving Ulrich in the center, the crowd cheering him. Fourth consecutive champion.


	4. An Odd reunion

Ulrich walked back into the bar section of the underground and then sat back on the stool where he was drinking earlier. Ordering another shot, the bartender dropped it in front of him, and Ulrich drank it quickly, then slowly placed the glass back on the bar. He always had a shot after a fight. Mr. Wilkenson walked from behind him then sat next to him.

" Kid, I gotta hand it to ya, you are the best at what you do," Mr. Wilkenson said to him. " You'll get your pay at the usual place. Can't deal money in front of these savages can we."

" Midnight?" Ulrich asked.

" Usual place, usual time," he said, then took a quick drink and left with his muscular body guards.

" What time is it?" Ulrich asked the bartender.

" Quarter till ten," he said. Ulrich paid for his drinks then left the underground ring. Walking up a flight of stairs, he stepped over a few drunks and druggies, then reached the opening to the alleyway. Walking out he walked through the alley, seeing a few people dealing drugs and women working the street corners. One asked him, but Ulrich kept walking, turned out of the alley, and started down the street.

The street was fairly quiet tonight. Traffic was annoying like usual. Backed up for no apparent reason. People were honking at each other, but for the most part it was pretty routine. Walking about seven blocks Ulrich crossed the last street finally saw the crowded bar. A sign above the bar said ' The usual place.' Ulrich walked through the people in front of the bar, then had to stop because of the bouncer at the door.

" Mr. Stern, your late, your usually here first on Suday's," the bouncer said to him.

" Couldn't miss church," Ulrich said sarcastically, everyone knowing he hadn't been to church once in his life. " Can I go in." The bouncer opened the door for him and Ulrich stepped in. " Take it easy."

The bar was packed. It was hard to find elbow room, and somehow the waitresses managed to zig zag through the people carrying drinks without spilling a drop. Walking through the mop Ulrich found his table in the back corner with an unconscious drunk on it, so kicked him off the chair and sat at the table. A waitress walked over to him a minute later.

" Ulrich, what do you want?" She asked.

" You know me. A round, keep em coming," Ulrich said. She nodded, then left for a moment, then came back with his first round. Ulrich cracked the bottle open, then took a sip, leaning against the chair, feet on the table. Looking at the clock on the wall, he saw it was ten. Looking at the bar, he saw people dancing drunk to shity music, a bear in one hand, a person in the other. The music was a little louder than it should have been, but it didn't fade out the begging of some desperate guy trying to hook up.

" One drink, come on," the spiky haired blonde man said.

" Sorry, I don't want to. You seem nice, but I have a boyfriend," the girl said. Ulrich smiled, because somehow he figured he knew the guy.

" Please," he said to her. The woman took her drink and walked through the crowd. " Dammit."

" Still begging I see," Ulrich said from his table.

" Fuck you," the man said then turned around, ready to throw a fist. He lowered his arm. " Unbelievable."

" Long time huh," Ulrich said.

" Ten years I think qualifies," the man said, then sat down next to him.

" So, what brings, Odd Della Robbia back to this shit hole?" Ulrich asked.

" Looking for a job," Odd said. " Why are you back. Last I knew you hostpitalized that guy at Kadic and got expelled," Odd said to him.

" Dunbar. He had it coming anyway. Let me buy you a beer," Ulrich said. When the waitress came back, he ordered more drinks, and him and Odd talked for the next two hours, about the last ten years.

* * *

" So to end a long story, I had to leave before her father killed me?" Odd said. Ulrich laughed, then thought about that.

" Well, you did sleep with his daughter," Ulrich said, then downed his most recent beer. Ulrich looked over his shoulder and saw Mr. Wilkenson enter the bar that had calmed down. " Be right back."

Ulrich stood up and walked to the door where Wilkenson was waiting. They stepped in front of each other, and Ulrich had a yellow envelope handed to him.

" There's the five thousand I owe you for tonight, and an extra five large from the betting profit."

" You got ten thousand off people who bet against me?" Ulrich asked, because he always received half of that profit.

" Think about next fight, it might me up to twenty," He said then pocketed his hands. " Well, till next time. Win the next fight, I'll take care of you kid. Lose, well, I'll take care you in a different way," he threatened.

" I never lose," Ulrich said to him then walked back to the table. Wilkenson walked away, as Ulrich sat back down.

" Who was that?" Odd asked, watching him leave.

" My manager," Ulrich said to him.

" Soccer?" Odd asked.

" That ship sailed. The championship game in the minors I took a nasty injury to the right leg. Got slide tackled. It's how I landed. I broke my shin, dislocated my knee, tore some muscle. Spent a few months in a bed, others in a wheel chair," he said. " I was hoping to get scouted for pros after the game, but that hit knocked every shot I had out the window. I spent my college money on that. I put all my eggs in one basket if you will."

" Damn. What do you do now?" Odd asked, figuring he'd have to be doing something to look this well.

" I partake in a event called underground fighting. Good pay for winners."

" What about the leg?" Odd asked.

" Time heals all," He said then stood up. " I'm heading out, where you stayin?"

" I was actually looking for a place to rent," Odd answered.

" Good, I need a roomate. The spare room doesn't have a bed in it, so you have the couch," Ulrich said to him, then stepped out of the bar.

" Good, I prefer couch anyday," Odd said then followed.

* * *

While they walked, Ulrich stepped around the corner of a building only to have someone collide into him. Because he was drunk, he couldn't stop himself from falling. Ulrich looked up at who hit him, but she wasn't looking at him. She was in a hurry.

" Sorry," she said then kept running. The woman had extremely long black hair that reached her waist and bobbed against it as she ran. Ulrich pulled himself off the ground then looked at her as she rounded another building.

" What's her hurry?" Odd asked. Ulrich however, started to run after her. " Ulrich? Wait up!" Odd shouted then ran after him. Ulrich rounded the corner, then saw her across the street rounding another. Ulrich starting running after her again.

Rounding the corner he looked, and didn't see her. She was too fast, and he was too drunk. " Dude what the hell," Odd said then rounded the corner, breathing deep. " Do you know her or something?"

" Not sure, wanted to find out," Ulrich said then leaned against the wall.

" Can we go home, I'm tired, and I really looking forward to the hangover." Ulrich gave a half smile then began to walk to the apartment.


	5. Messages from the departed

Aelita had a strange feeling today was going to be a bad day. She didn't know why, she never did. At least once a week she woke up with a bad feeling about the day, and was usually right. But it was never anything too bad. It was usually a below perfect grade, or public humiliation. But today was different. Today was going to be really bad.

Aelita's first hint at this was the fact she woke up with a headache. She figured it would subside in an hour, it causing her to awake in the early morning, but it didn't. It was strong, stinging, and got more painful every time her heart beat, pounding in her head. It was so bad it was making her nauseated.

A few minutes before she was about to leave for school, she heard her computer. It was the alert that stated an email had arrived. Walking from her door and back to her computer she sat on the chair, and wiggled the mouse to make the desktop reappear.

' New email,' The computer said in a small alert email. Email checked the time, and realized she didn't have any time to check it. She left her chair then went back to the front door, slipped her shoes on, and left. When she did, five more came.

---

Leaving her apartment she walked down the flight of stairs, then out the front door. Placing her hands in her coat pockets she kept walking toward the college about four blocks away. She enjoyed the walk. It was something to help her keep her mind off school, and paying the bills.

Ten minutes later she arrived at the college and walked into her classroom. Today she only had one class, but it was a few hours long. The teacher began the same way. A small review over last week; a quiz; notes; the homework, then they were released. The class was Sociology.

The quiz was over the notes and homework on phobias. It was ten questions long, but they were all several part questions like; _What is a Phobia? Name and describe ten_, and; _what is the difference between rational and irrational phobias? Name and describe one of each_. Each question had the amount of points it was worth. Total the quiz was worth fifty points. A quarter of a test grade.

Aelita finished her quiz then tried to focus on her headache. It had calmed, but hadn't left, like it was merely teasing Aelita. Because of the headache, Aelita missed two questions on the quiz, giving her a ninety five, instead of a hundred, but got an extra five percent when she got the bonus question for extra credit. The answer was _Arachibutyrophobia_ the question was, _What is the fear of peanut butter getting stuck on the roof of your mouth?_ So managed a hundred, but not a perfect.

After class was over Aelita left with her notes and homework on sociology studies on teens. She was thinking about leaving, but remembered she need to check out a book from the library to help her with her homework. Walking into another building she made her way down the halls and into the library that had some people in it, but not many.

Scanning the shelves she found a book she thought would help, then walked to the sign out so she could leave. Then she saw the computers out of the corner of her eye. She remember the email she got before she left, but didn't have time to check. Walking over, she sat at an open computer, then signed it using her student screen name.

When she got the page she saw that the emails had been multiplying quite a bit since she left. There were three hundred and seventy two now.

" What the hell?" Aelita said, then clicked check. They all said no subject, and all were from the same person. There was no email reply link, only on name. ' Jeremie.'

Aelita clicked the first one. It was only two words long. ' He's back.' The fact that it was from someone named Jeremie scared her enough. But what it said made it sound like it was her Jeremie. That wasn't possible, because he was dead. She clicked next. It said the same thing. ' He's back.'

She clicked next again, it was different. ' Your not safe. None of you are.' She clicked next. ' He's back.'

For almost a minute she rapidly clicked next to read either of the two messages. The she passed one she hadn't, then went back. ' There is more than one' It was different, because it didn't have a period at the end of it. Like it was forgotten, or cut off before it could be complete.

Aelita was scared now. This was either a well arranged joke, or a message from beyond the grave. It scared her so much, that about after one hundred clicks, she hit select all, then hit delete. Aelita took a deep breath, then placed her hand back on the mouse to log off. At the exact second she did, another email appeared.

Aelita's heartbeat rose. She clicked delete, and a second later, another appeared. She hit delete again, and again, as they continued to pop up. Then after she hit delete the fifth time, they stopped. She was hoping they were done, before they began to flood her screen. She tried to stop them, but the screen was frozen as more appeared, and opened by themselves.

' He's back, he's back, he's back.' ' Your not safe. None of you are, your not safe. None of you are.' ' There's more than one, there's more than one.' She clicked off on the modem, nothing happened, so she unplugged it. The screen became blank, quiet and black. It was over.

Aelita's heart was beating out of her chest. What had just happened? Nothing could explain it. A joke, maybe. But who and why would they go to such great lengths to scare her. Plus, how were they able to send so many emails so fast? Aelita didn't want to think about so left.

---

When Aelita got home, she unplugged her computer because she thought it possible that maybe they were still popping up. Sitting on her bed she took a deep breath and tried to think about what to do about it. The only thing she wanted to do, was go to the factory.

Aelita hadn't been there since Jeremie died the day the defeated xana. She didn't want to go there, it was too sad. But she knew she had no choice. The lab was the only thing that could clear it up. She didn't want to go alone.

Aelita walked over to her night stand and grabbed her cellphone. Going through her listed numbers, she found the one she was looking for, then pressed call. The phone said, ' Ulrich Cell,' as it began to ring.


	6. Breakfast at Sissi's

" Get up," Ulrich said to Odd who was crashed in the living room on the couch, that did pullout into a bed, but he was too lazy last night to pull it. Odd opened his left eye and saw Ulrich out of the corner of it. Turning his head he opened both eyes and looked at him.

" What?" Odd asked groggy and tired.

" Wake up, get up, or I'll make you," Ulrich threatened. Odd looked down and saw a bucket of water in Ulrich's hands.

" It's just water," Odd said, then hugged the pillow and rolled over. Ulrich sighed then dumped the bucket on Odd. The water made him shoot up and fall off the couch.

" Cold!" Odd shouted then looked around him. Ice. " That's cheating."

" Shut up and get dressed," Ulrich said then walked into the bathroom of his apartment. The apartment was minimally furnished, only a few lamps, a bed, a couch, a coffee table and a television. Two rooms, and about seven hundred square feet total. Five hundred a month, that Ulrich and Odd would now split down the middle.

Odd looked at the alarm clock in Ulrich's room. " I can't believe you of all people are up before noon," Odd said, the clock saying it was eight a.m.

" I was actually up at six. Took me awhile to get rid of the smell of blood, beer, and sweat," Ulrich said to Odd who noticed Ulrich was up, dressed and ready to go to where ever he had to be this morning.

" Why are you up so early," Odd asked, the Ulrich he remembered not liking mornings.

" Free breakfast," Ulrich said then walked to the door. " Coming or not?"

" If it's free," Odd said then got off the floor. Odd reached into his bag and dug around for a minute before he picked something to wear and changed. Ulrich leaned against the wall waiting for Odd and when he was ready opened the door and stepped out first.

--------------------------------------

Ulrich locked the door and began to walk down the hall of the building. Odd took a left to go down the stairs, but Ulrich took a right, and stopped at his neighbors door. Ulrich noticed Odd didn't notice him stop.

" Where you going?" Ulrich asked. Odd looked back, and walked back up the five stairs he walked down. Ulrich knocked on the door, and waited for a reply.

" It's open," a woman's voice said from behind the door. Odd's ears pricked up from hearing any woman's voice. Ulrich turned the knob and stepped in, taking his shoes off at the door. Odd stepped in and did the same.

" I brought a friend," Ulrich said aloud, knowing woman would hear him.

" Who is it?" The woman asked.

" You remember Odd right?" Ulrich asked aloud. In the kitchen an object hit the ground.

" Della Robbia?" She asked, making sure.

" Yep."

" Yeah...I remember sadly," she said them picked up the spatula she had dropped.

" Who is that?" Odd asked Ulrich. Ulrich didn't answer, just walked into the dinning room and took a seat. The smell of breakfast was engulfing the entire apartment, and making Odd drool.

Odd sat opposite to Ulrich at the six person table in the much more decorated apartment. Over Ulrich's shoulder he could see a woman in the kitchen, but she wasn't facing him. Her back was to him, her front operating a stove and flipping pancakes.

" This your free breakfast?" Odd asked Ulrich.

" Every Monday," Ulrich said then leaned back into the chair more. Odd didn't stop looking over Ulrich's shoulder. He was trying to evaluate the woman in the kitchen. So far, not bad.

Even from the angle he was at, Odd could tell she had a great body. Her curves where perfectly grooved the way they should be. She was wearing tight blue pants that gave Odd a great view of her ass. The sides of her breasts were in view from around her arms, and Odd knew she wasn't flat.

" Staring is rude, hope you know," Ulrich said to Odd. Odd shrugged.

" I'm not staring, I'm evaluating," Odd said, then managed to pry his eyes away, getting last minute details before his eyes trailed away. Her hair was black, or dark brown, the lighting in the kitchen was making it hard to tell. It reached a little over his mid back, and was straight. The only thing on her torso was a black tank top and a bra of the matching color with the straps in sight.

" Evaluate?" Ulrich asked, as if there was no difference. Which there really wasn't. Eye humping is eye humping no matter what you call it.

The woman began to stack the pancakes on a plate then turned off her stove. Carrying a bowl and a plate she placed them on the counter and grabbed another plate with bacon and sausage on grease stained paper towels. Carrying the bowl in the one hand, the plates in the other she walked over and placed them on the table.

" Haven't seen you since ninth grade," the woman said to Odd. Odd looked up at her, and thought she looked familiar but couldn't lay his finger on it.

" You look so familiar, but...just can't lay my finger on it," Odd said to her. She shook her head then took a seat next to Ulrich and began to fill her plate with food. The woman had a face of annoyance towards Odd, and because of that face, Odd figured it out.

" Sissi?" Odd asked. Sissi nodded then stabbed a sausage link with a fork and took a bite out of the end. Odd looked back and forth between Ulrich and Sissi. " Are you two...you know?"

" Not anymore," Ulrich said to him. " We did a few years back. Turns out, we're better friends than anything else," Ulrich answered. Sissi nodded, then scooped some eggs out of the bowl and onto her plate.

" When did you get back in France?" Sissi asked Odd.

" Friday," Odd answered, then passed the bowl to Ulrich after taking some of the eggs. " Figured it'd been awhile since I'd been here. Really missed the place, so I decided to come, check up on friends."

" Got a job yet?" Sissi asked. Odd nodded.

" I'm supposed to start waiting tables at the usual place on Wednesday," Odd said to him. " Good tips I heard."

" What shift you got?" Sissi asked, taking a strip of bacon and breaking it in half with her teeth.

" Six through midnight," Odd answered, then began to attack him pancakes after adding syrup. Sissi groaned a little.

" That's my shift," Sissi said aloud.

" You work there?" Odd asked, thinking it the only reason she'd groan.

" Yeah. Good tips like you said. I hate Fridays though. So many drunk business men, I swear my ass is a pin cushion," Sissi complained.

" Where's everyone else. You know, Yumi and Aelita?" Odd asked Ulrich who was eating slowly.

" Yumi, I haven't heard from since she moved back to Japan ten years back. Aelita however I still talk to. She goes to the university downtown."

" Shouldn't she be out of college by now?" Odd asked, because most twenty four year olds are out of college and at work.

" She had to work two years just to afford it," Ulrich answered. " I help out with that as well. I make enough to spend, so I give her about five thousand a semester. She's graduating this year."

" Nice to hear someone made it," Odd said under his breath. He knew it would be Aelita. " Is she dating anyone?" Odd asked, out of curiosity.

" Since she broke up with me, last I knew no," Ulrich answered then looked at Odd.

" You dated Aelita?" Odd asked surprised. That was almost as strange as Ulrich dating Sissi.

" Almost a year. Eleven and a half months," Ulrich said then kept eating.

" Why did she dump you, or what ever happened."

" I advanced to fast sexually. Aelita's still a virgin, so she's still a little shaky about that topic. We were really close to doing it too. If she hadn't told me to stop even a second late, she wouldn't be a virgin."

" You had her naked?" Odd asked.

" Of course. Same situation as Sissi. Better friends than anything."

" You forget though, Ulrich," Sissi said to him, pointing with her fork.

" You two had sex?" Odd asked, his fork halfway to his mouth, and in route to make a u turn.

" Several times," Sissi said, as if she enjoyed every minute of every session. Odd fork hit his plate. He was done with this conversation. Ulrich's phone rang in his pocket and he looked to see who was calling.

" Speak of the devil," Ulrich said then answered the call. " Hey Aelita." Ulrich left the chair to talk in the other room.

Sissi's eyes found their way to Odd. He had changed since Kadic. He was still goofy, but at least he wasn't the same short scrawny kid she remembered. Odd's eye found their way to Sissi as well. She had definitely developed. Odd would have admitted her cute at Kadic, but now he was almost willing to bury the past and ask her out.

" That does sound weird," Ulrich said, leaning against the wall with the phone against his ear. Aelita told him about the emails.

" Do you really want to check it...alright fine. I'll meet you there. I'll bring a guest. Odd's back in town...yeah, he really is...you'll see him soon alright. Bye." Ulrich hung up the phone and walked back into the dinning room.

" Odd, we're leaving," Ulrich said to Odd then looked at Sissi.

" Where are you guys going?" Sissi asked, breakfast not done yet.

" We just gotta go," Ulrich said to her, trying to make her shut up.

" It's Kadic all over again. I don't think so," Sissi said to Ulrich, standing up to make her point more bold. " I want in." Ulrich sighed. He knew Sissi would just follow them anyway.

" Fine. But you gotta keep it a secret," Ulrich said to Sissi. Sissi smiled then got up and grabbed her coat.

" So, where we going?"


	7. Black clouds in a once clear sky

_**This is where Just a ghost in me was left on before it stopped. After this chapter, It's all my ideas. **_

* * *

Ulrich, Odd, and Sissi stepped through the streets then looked straight ahead. The factory was in view and still hung there dirty and decayed. Ulrich walked with his hands in his pockets and Odd walked a few feet behind him. Sissi was behind Odd still wondering why they were going to a grease stained place like this. Stepping across the bridge Ulrich had a few flashbacks of them running down this to save the day.

Stepping to the edge of the drop they saw the ropes were still hanging. Ulrich started to walk down instead of jumping. Odd took a few steps back, getting ready to make the jump.

" Don't do it. Ten years of decay," Ulrich said to him. Odd smiled.

" What's the worst the can happen?" Odd asked then ran and jumped off the edge. He swung for a second before the rope snapped. With his momentum carrying him he hit the ground hard and rolled for a few seconds before he stopped rolling and stopped moving.

" What a dumbass," Ulrich said then started down the steps. Sissi looked down the ledge and saw Odd's body twitch once then she followed Ulrich.

" Odd!" A voice shouted. Ulrich rounded the corner and saw Aelita kneeled next to Odd trying to wake him up. Aelita looked up at Ulrich then tried to shake him awake again. Nothing was working.

" Told him not to," Ulrich said to her then stopped in front of Odd. He kicked him in the ribs once and he shot up, almost head butting Aelita. Odd opened his eyes and was already eye to eye with Aelita. For almost ten seconds they just stared at each other. Aelita helped him to his feet then hugged him tightly.

" Hey Odd," Aelita said then let him go after nearly a minute. Odd was the last one to leave. He stayed with her for as long as he could. But eventually he had to leave. After they were done hanging onto each other they let go then everyone looked at each other.

Ulrich stepped into the elevator and then looked at them. Everyone else boarded then Ulrich pressed the button to turn on the lift that proceeded down the shaft. Ulrich leaned against the wall as Sissi continued to question what they were doing.

Stepping into the lab they saw that it was dusty and filled with cobwebs. They stepped through the lab and Aelita checked the monitor. It was still offline. The core was still off like it should have been. Nothing in the lab was noticeably tampered and it looked like no one had been down here in a decade. Like it should have been.

" Go and turn it on," Aelita said to Ulrich and Odd who nodded then boarded the elevator again. Sissi stepped behind Aelita who sat and waited for the computer to come back on. Taking her sleeve Aelita wiped the dust off the screen then sat back into the chair.

* * *

Odd and Ulrich waited for the elevator to reach the core. Both leaned against the wall as it moved further down. Odd looked over to Ulrich and smiled. 

" When did Aelita get hot?" Odd asked Ulrich.

" Excuse me?" Ulrich asked Odd.

" It's an honest question," Odd said then pushed off the railing. " Last I knew, she was just cute. That was it. Now...damn," Odd said then grinned to himself.

" Don't even think about it," Ulrich said to him.

" About what?" Odd asked.

" You know what. Aelita isn't like other girls you date. She won't open her legs on the first command you give her. If you want quick pussy, ask Sissi, because Aelita is a locked door," Ulrich said then elevator opened.

" You sound like you know from experience," Odd said then stepped out to the core of lyoko.

" I do. Remember," Ulrich said, fairly sure he told him that earlier. Odd thought about that.

" Oh yeah," Odd said then chuckled. Ulrich shook his head then pressed the button of the core and the switch appeared. He turned it on and the room hummed to life and filled with light. They stood there watching it for abnormalities. Then Aelita's voice came from over the speaker.

" It's clear guys, come back up," Aelita said to them. Ulrich gestured to the elevator and Odd and him boarded it again. It closed then led them back to the lab where Aelita was typing and Sissi was still trying to figure out what was going on. Aelita finished typing then looked at them.

" Something is going on in lyoko right now," Aelita said simply.

" Is it xana?" Ulrich asked. Aelita shook her head.

" Doesn't look like it, but it isn't normal either. Something is altering lyoko. It seems like it wasn't shut down, like something else was running the program. I'm sending you and Odd in," Aelita said then started to begin the virtualization process. Odd and Ulrich nodded then boarded the elevator.

" What do I do," Sissi asked, looking between the three.

" Go with them," Aelita said then spun her chair around. Sissi shrugged then boarded the elevator after them. The doors closed and they went to the scanner room. The scanners were open and the two stepped into their scanners, and Sissi looked at hers.

" Is this safe?" Sissi asked. Ulrich looked at her for a moment then she stepped in. The doors closed and Sissi began to feel weird. Her hair began to blow around her face, and that slowly picked up speed. Light blinded her till it engulfed the tube and with a final gust of wind she was dematerialized.

* * *

Sissi opened her eyes then suddenly fell to the ground. It was hard and barren and stretched out to an impossibly far length. The first think to reach her lips was one word. " Impossible." 

" Welcome to lyoko," Ulrich said to her then looked at Odd. " Um, Aelita, why is our stuff different?"

" Well, we're not kids anymore. The scanner reads your thoughts and creates something for you. I guess he wanted something different. And you too it seems," Aelita said to them. Then Ulrich looked down at himself. Then back at Odd.

Odd wore jeans that hit the ground as he walked. Over his chest was a grey t shirt that was a little tight. Over his shoulder was a strap that held a rifle that hit his hip as he walked. Odd smiled the held the gun up.

Ulrich was in a black cloak that covered his body. His hood was down and he wasn't sure what was under it. Looking at himself under the cloak was black pants and a black tunic. On his hands were a pair of leather gloves. Black of course. He had no weapon on his person.

Sissi looked the most out of place. She was wearing a short skirt that would reveal things with the slightest breeze. Her top was close fit and showed her belly bottom off, was pink and like Ulrich had no visible weapon except for a strange glow on her palms.

" What happened to me," Sissi asked then gave herself a quick glance the best she could. Ulrich shrugged then looked to the sky.

" Odd, do you remember lyoko having black clouds?" Ulrich asked. Odd looked up and shook his head.

" It's new to me. Aelita, what do we do?" Odd asked Aelita.

" Look out, something is coming your way," Aelita said to them. Ulrich stood ready, but with no weapon. Odd gripped the rifle and kept it aimed out in front of him. Sissi stood there clueless.

" Aelita, how do I fight without a weapon?" Ulrich asked.

" You don't need one. Your attacker power in lyoko has increased dramatically. So a punch or a kick from you should do about the same amount of damage it did with your katana," Aelita answered. " An Sissi, if you think of a weapon, the glow on your hands with create it."

" What, why does she get the cool power," Odd complained then saw something in the distance. " Target in sight."

Ulrich turned his body and saw what was coming at them. Odd kept his rifle up and stood ready for anything. Sissi watched scared as it got closer to them. It stopped ten feet in front of them. This things face couldn't be seen, but it was fully concealed in a tarnished black cloak. Its feet couldn't be seen and it seemed to be floating off the ground.

" How dare you enter my home," the creature said to them. Before Ulrich had the chance to respond it sent a black blast at Sissi that devirtualized her on impact. Odd and Ulrich stood looking at where she was. Only a small layer of smoke remained.

It shot another one at Ulrich who jumped out of the way then charged the creature. He jumped up over a second blast then kicked him. He flew back some then came back at Ulrich. It struck him and sent him sprawling. Odd shot at it and took some life points before it shot another blast at Ulrich and finished him.

It charged Odd and knocked him back. Odd began to fall into the digital sea but kept firing as he did. Not one shot missed and he started to disappear before Odd vanished in the sea.

* * *

In another lab white mist poured out of a scanner and a man pulled himself out. He shook her head then walked over to the computer that was in the same room. Someone was with him and looked over his shoulder. 

" We have company now," he said to his friend. " Stern, And Robbia are back."

" But our plan is almost complete. What do we do," the friend asked.

" For now we wait. We fight them once we find information. But no matter what lyoko will be ours."


	8. I'm watching you

Aelita watched the screen and saw Odd's icon vanish. Looking closer she saw his life points drain to zero and the icon disappear. Aelita felt a tear roll down her cheek, and she took her right index finger and wiped it away. She felt more tears roll of her cheeks and splash on the keyboard. Then she broke down uncontrollably.

The elevator opened and Ulrich and Sissi stepped off. Ulrich felt a little stiff from not having been in lyoko for a long time. So naturally being materialized again was a new sensation. For Sissi it was only new and now she was a little sore.

" What the hell was that?" Ulrich asked Aelita as he stepped off. He didn't get a reply. All he heard was deep sobbing from the computer. Hearing that he went into a jog and ran around the chair. Aelita was in a heap on the keyboard.

" What happened?" Ulrich asked her. Aelita rose her face up from her arms and looked at Ulrich. Her face was red and stained with tears that were pouring out of her eyes. Every sob was accompanied with a breath that sounded like she was trying to breathe.

" It's..." Aelita started then gave a loud sob, " ..Odd."

" What happened?" Ulrich asked again. Slowly he moved her hair away from her face to see her eyes.

" What happened to Odd?" Ulrich asked. Aelita broke down into more tears with louder weezing and sobs.

" he's gone," Aelita finally said after a long pause.

* * *

'Where am I?' Odd asked himself. It felt like he was floating. Slowly drifting along through nothingness. Everything was black, well that or either he couldn't see. It was impossible to tell.

" Where am I?" Odd asked again.

" Stuck halfway," a voice answered.

" Who said that?" Odd asked. It felt like his voice echoed when he spoke.

" That I can't answer. I've been in here so long I've practically forgotten myself."

" Can I go home?" Odd asked the voice. The voice that was vaguely familiar. Like he felt it was a voice he should have recognized.

" Why go home? Stay here, you can never die."

" Without death there's no life. I want to live. Can I even get home if I wanted to?" Odd asked, because if this voice had been here for so long maybe it couldn't get out either.

" What's your reason to stay among the living? What's keeping you there?"

Odd drifted around for nearly a minute bit felt like. When in nothingness time doesn't seem to exist anymore. As he floated he tried to find his reason to stay. He didn't want to admit it, but now he felt he had to.

" Love," he finally told the voice. The voice remained quiet.

" And it's affectionate enough to make you want to stay alive. Why love when immortality lasts forever?"

" Because love lasts forever too. Life and death are just phases of love. The only difference between love and immortality is the fact you're not alone. I'd rather die in love, than live forever alone."

The voice remained quiet for awhile. It was thinking, trying to register Odd's opinion. Finally it responded.

" Very well, I shall guide you back. You won't remember this conversation, or being here. But do try to remember this. I'm watching you."

As sudden as the voice vanished something appeared. White light. Odd could feel himself floating toward it. The light grew, and grew till it was nearly blinding. It engulfed Odd's entire body and soon he could feel a familiar sensation. Life.

* * *

Aelita sat against the wall in the lab still crying. Ulrich sat next to her, giving her someone to cry on. He could feel her tears soaking his shirt and her grip around him getting tighter with every sob.

" First Jeremie and now Odd," Aelita said in midcry. So it sounded like she was a five year old. " I should have never called you."

" Stop it," Ulrich said then grabbed her face. He held her cheeks gently with both palms and looked her straight in the eye. Aelita stopped crying for a few seconds to let him talk.

" Jeremie wasn't your fault..."

" It was, if I wasn't so helpless.."

" Stop! Don't blame yourself for anything. Xana killed Jeremie and Odd didn't have to come. He came on his own free will. You didn't push him into the scanner, or shove him into in the digital sea. So stop blaming yourself for things that are out of your control."

Aelita wiped a few tears off her face then took a deep breath. It was exactly what she needed to hear. It wasn't her fault. No one thought it was but she couldn't help but feel responsible. And now that it had happened again the guilt only seemed to multiply.

Sissi looked back at them and sighed. She had to admit even Odd didn't deserve this. Not like she would admit it to anyone but she thought Odd was attractive now. If Ulrich could get passed Kadic and saw screw it and date her, maybe Odd would. No chance of that now.

Then Sissi heard something from the computer. Turning her head he stepped across the room and sat down. Something had popped up and Sissi guessed it was a loading screen. The screen had a bar that was slowly filling up. But Sissi couldn't have been sure, computer weren't her strong point.

" Uh, Aelita something just popped up," Sissi said to Aelita. Aelita lifted up her head and looked at Sissi.

" What is it?" Aelita asked. Her crying was better under control so it came out a little clearer.

" It says...um..." Sissi said, looking closer to the screen to read the small print. "...Incoming transfer to scanner."

Aelita heard that then got off the floor. Slowly walking over she leaned against the chair then peaked at the screen. Once she read everything once her heart nearly stopped.

" Oh my god," Aelita said then read it again.

" What?" Ulrich asked.

" Oh my god," Aelita said again then ran for the elevator. Ulrich ran on with her. Sissi would have boarded if she knew what was going on.

" What the hell is going on?" Ulrich asked again for about the fifth time before the doors opened.

Aelita sprinted then stopped in front of a scanner. Ulrich looked at it then at Aelita. It was Odd's scanner. Ulrich started to figure things out quickly. Odd was coming back through.

The doors to the scanner opened and white mist poured out. Aelita's heart skipped a beat as it began to disperse. Laying in the scanner rubbing his head was Odd. Odd's hands grabbed the ends of the scanner and pulled himself out. Sweat drenched his face and her hair, dripping off her nose and chin. He had a sickly feeling throughout his body, but managed to hold back vomiting. Every muscle he had was weak and throbbing.

Before Odd took two steps out Aelita jumped at him. Odd couldn't hold her in his condition and fell with her. He could feel her crying into his chest, her tears already soaking his shirt more than his own sweat. She was trembling as she held him, her shaking making his body shake.

" Whoa, what did I miss?" Odd asked her. Aelita smiled then hugged him tighter than she already was. Odd wasn't sure why she was hugging him in tears. Something had to have happened that he didn't know.

" I'm so glad you're back. You're alive," Aelita said to him. Odd looked down at her and she looked back up at him. She smiled at him then buried her face in his chest again.

" Okay...what happened?" Odd asked.

" You fell into the void," Ulrich said to him. Odd looked up at him.

" I did?" Odd asked. Ulrich nodded and Odd looked at Aelita. That explained a lot.

" So, what was it like, being in void and all?" Ulrich asked him. Odd tried to recollect everything. But nothing came. He shrugged then looked back at him.

" I really don't remember," Odd said then managed to get off the ground. Aelita followed but didn't let him go. Odd leaned against the wall to get some breath back from materialization and being squeezed by Aelita.

" Can we go now?" Odd asked them. Aelita nodded into his chest then they started to walk toward the elevator. Leaning against the wall in the elevator Odd couldn't get Aelita to let go of him. Soon it was comfortable so he just wrapped an arm around her. The moment he did that he heard a voice. This voice was a stranger to Odd, yet somehow familiar.

' _Remember Odd. I'm watching you_.'


	9. Job hunting

_**I didn't have a spell check when I wrote this. So my grammer, and spelling is going to be everywhere.**_

**_Merry Christmas everyone, I've opened my gifts and got basically what I asked for, and a little more. Had eggs, bacon, sausage, and biscuts for breakfast, what not. Guess what, you all have the chance to give me a gift too. Leave a review._**

* * *

****

Yumi had made the decision that she would stay in France for awhile. She couldn't just leave Hiroki alone, or let some lawyers or social workers dump him in some crappy orphanage or foster home. That was one of the last things Yumi wanted for her brother. He'd be eighteen soon, but not soon enough. Still about six months away. The first week in France she spent around the house, cleaning what her late father and brother hadn't cleaned, and helped Hiroki with the emotional stress of the whole situation. Later she woke up in the morning with coffee and the wants ads of the newspaper circling jobs she figured she could manage.

Hiroki and Yumi left the house at the same time, said goodbye then walked down seperate directions. The first place on Yumi's list only a few blocks away was a drycleaner. Turned out the position had already been filled. A few blocks from that was a nail salon, but when she walked in she immediately discovered the foul odor from within it. A mixture of nail polish removal, nail polish, and the smell of old women. So she crossed out the nail salon and kept moving down her list. She crossed out two restraunts, a department store, a grocery store, and a flourist within the next three hours.

Sitting on a bench she looked at her circled newspaper and saw only two jobs she had circled she hadn't checked yet. Catching her breath she got up from the bench then made her way for the liquir store. The bell above the door jingled as she stepped in. That sound was becoming familiar every stop she made today. The store was small, but large enough to be called a store. It was large enough to hold what Yumi guessed was half of the alcoholic brands in France. The fridges on the wall were filled, and the aisles were shelved with wine, scotch, whisky, rum, vodka, and all of the above. The smell of alcohol was so strong you could possibly get drunk just by staying in the store long enough breathing the fumes.

Yumi watched as a kid she guessed was about sixteen leave with a case of beer walked out of the front door, the bells jingling. Then she let out a sigh of rage. One thing she never liked about France was the drinking age. Looking at the man at the register she swallowed her rage then stepped to the counter. The man was already looking at Yumi as well, because she didn't look like she was hear to buy. He found it better to keep his eyes on people like that.

" Can I help you miss?" The man asked in english, which surprised Yumi, though his accent was strong.

" Read about an ad in the paper for a job opening," Yumi said to then placed the newspaper on the counter.

" Yes, that is my ad. You are?"

" Yumi Ishiyama," Yumi answered then pulled the newspaper off of the counter. " Is the job still open?"

" It is, but tell me, what do you know about drinks?" The man asked.

" Not much, basically the difference between wine and champahne, vodka and whisky. I can mix drinks well enough to have a party but other than that not much. Not a big drinker but I'll drink."

" So, if I came into this store and asked what's better with steak, red or white wine, you'd answer?" The man asked Yumi.

" Red wine, everyone knows that. And white wine with fish."

" Very good," the man said then placed a hand on the counter then slid over it. He walked to a shelf then took a bottle of wine from the shelf. " Sparkling red wine, fresh from Paris farms. Would you open it right away or let it age a little?"

" Age, wines always gets better with age," Yumi said to him.

" See, this is simple," the man said to her then leaned against the counter. " Now, what is mixed with vodka to get blak celebration?"

" Umm..." Yumi started, trying to think of a good guess because she had no clue in hell. " One part vodka, two parts rum?"

" You're hopeless. Vodka and rum would get even the best drinker drunk off his mind. If you can't even get that, you don' know enough to work with customers. Thanks for trying."

" Thanks for the offer," Yumi said then started to leave before turning to face him. " What was the answer?"

" One part vodka, two part coca cola, served with ice," The man answered. Yumi sighed then left the store, door jingling behind her. She looked at her last job opportunity after crossing out the liquir store. Hair salon.

Yumi found the salon nearly ten minutes later several blocks away. Yumi was glad so many places for work were so close together. It was convient and all in walking distance. So even though at the moment she couldn't offord a car she wouldn't need one. Seeing the salon she stepped across the street after checking both ways then reached the other side of the street. Like most places she stepped into the bell jingled above her. Somehow this place seemed the most comfortable. Most of the women working here were asian Yumi immediately noticed. Then she heard two of them talking and knew even a few were Japanese. If Yumi could do two things easy it was do hair, and speak japanese. Safe to say, she landed the job.

* * *

Later the same day Yumi was leaning outside of the front gate of Kadic academy waiting for Hiroki. Thankfully his semester was paid for already so he'd graduate without having to go to public school to finish. The final bell rang and Yumi looked around the corner of the gate and saw students flooding out of the main classroom building. It was strange for Yumi seeing highschool level students walking around campus, but since Kadic expanded to seventh through twelfth it was a common site now. The place had changed a lot since Yumi went. Which made her stop and think about that experience. Almost every drop of her experience at Kadic was comsumed by xana, and damn near every experiece afterward.

Seeing Hiroki in the crowd when a larger senior finally moved away from Yumi's angle. Hiroki saw his sister then said bye to his friends and walked over to her. Yumi noticed he seemed a little beter since their father was killed, but not much better. Once his friends were out of view his expression changed dramatically. He walked right pass Yumi then started down the street. As he walked by Yumi heard him say something but had to ask what he had said because it was so faint.

" What was that?" Yumi asked, catching up with him.

" Let's just go, okay?" Hiroki asked, already getting choked. Yumi nodded then wrapped her arms around her little brother for a small hug as they kept walking. He'd been restraining himself from crying since the day started. But it would be embarrassing to cry at school. So he had to wait till he got home, to cry in comforting company, and with people who wouldn't think any more or less of him if he did. He knew he had to let it out, but he knew he had to pick when and where to do so.

* * *

_" What happened, a glitch?" Yumi asked after watching Jeremie virtualized. _

_" That's not a glitch, xana bugged the system on Jeremie's return. Jeremie, don't get devirtualized," Ulrich said, knowing enough about the super computer to know what a glitch was. And that wasn't a glitch if xana's symbol was involved. Instead of a green plus sign, or a red negitive, it was the eye. _

_" They're far in sector five, you'll need to run Jeremie," Yumi said to him. Then a moment later she looked at the screens and saw Odd was gone. A mantis shot him in the back._

_" Aelita's alone, get a move on!" Yumi shouted in the headset. Jeremie took off running in lyoko and Yumi sighed then concentrated on the screens. Odd climbed back to the surface then looked over Yumi's shoulder. _

_" Where's einstein?" Odd asked._

_" In lyoko getting to Aelita before it's too late. We've come too far to just lose now. Please Jeremie."_

_" Will he make it?" Ulrich asked Yumi._

_" Cross your fingers," Yumi said to everyone._

_

* * *

_

Suddenly a stirring outside woke Yumi up. Opening her eyes and pushing the blanket off herself in her old room she got up. When she did she immediately got dizzy from getting up to fast but still got to the window without falling. Looking outside of it she saw Hiroki softly closing the front door then walking down the main path of the house. Climbing over the gate because it always slammed no matter what you did he looked both ways for police then started walking down the street. Yumi looked at the clock and saw it was a little pass midnight.

" What are you up to," Yumi asked herself then ran across the room to get dressed. Slipping on the pants she was wearing today, the same socks but a different shirt that wasn't white. Yumi never slept with a bra on so she needed a shirt that wouldn't let on the fact she wasn't, her nightime shirt being thin and white. If she had more time she would have grabbed one, but she had to follow Hiroki. Running down the stairs she slipped on her boots, grabbed the house keys to lock the door after her and got outside in time to see Hiroki rounding the corner.


	10. A Voice

Odd was in the bathroom in his and Ulrich's apartment doing his hair. One strand just wasn't following the curve with the rest of it so he kept trying to make it cooperate. When he let it go, it pulled away from the other strands. After nearly ten minutes he placed his palms on the sink then sighed. It would just be something to talk about at diner.

Ulrich walked into the apartment, and closed the door behind him while carrying a six pack. Ulrich stepped into the kitchen, put the beer in the fridge and took one out before he closed the door. He popped off the top then sat on the couch, and turned on the tv. Nothing was worth hearing about on the news besides a local man who was killed recently for unknown motives, so he just changed the channel. A soccer match was on so he leaned into the couch more and took a sip of his beer.

Odd stepped out of the bathroom while rolling up the sleeves on his long sleeved dress shirt that he buttoned up all the way until the last button. He was in jeans with some holes in them, which he bought them as. Ulrich turned his head and saw Odd walk out of the bathroom then raised an eyebrow.

" I hope you didn't actually buy the pants after the holes were in them," Ulrich said to him.

" What? It's in style?"Odd asked then fixed his collar.

" To hell with style, you need to go to the clothing store and demand they give you the rest of the jeans. They cheated you," Ulrich said then shook his head and continued to watch the game. Odd flipped off Ulrich then started for the door.

" May I ask why you're so spiffed up right now, and not drunk?" Ulrich asked.

" One, I'm going out with Aelita tonight. Two, she doesn't like drinking so I won't get that taste in my mouth when I'm around her," Odd said then checked his sleeves again, ran a finger through his hair with the one strand still jutting out.

" Damn," Ulrich said with a laugh.

" What's so funny?" Odd asked, then turned toward him.

" You're pussy wiped, before you even got the pussy," Ulrich said then laughed again.

" Go to hell," Odd said then grabbed his bag on the ground and opened it up. Taking out his wallet and about a hundred in his tips he pocketed them then closed his bag again. He had already given Ulrich his half of the rent so that was already settled.

" What are you doing tonight that's better than me?" Odd asked.

" Getting paid, my manager is entering me in another tournament," Ulrich said then took a drink.

" Why are you drinking then?" Odd asked, figuring being sober would help him stay focused.

" I don't get drunk, I get numb," Ulrich said to him. Odd shrugged then opened the door to the apartment.

" See you later," Odd said then shut the door.

* * *

Odd and Aelita's date led them to a diner outing at a restaurant near Aelita's apartment that she walks by every day on the way to school but had never been in. A bar and grill that served sandwiches and wine. The two found a table then sat down and waited for someone to come by and ask for their orders. When the waitress did they ordered their drinks, two sodas, and the waitress left.

" So, what have you been up to for the last eight years?" Aelita asked. Odd cradled his chin in his palms and thought about it.

" Not much really. Barely graduated, flunked college after two semesters. Drugs, drank, kicked out my house, on the streets for a few weeks, moved in with friends, friend got killed in crash, job to job, gave up, attempted suicide, failed obviously, rehab, drug free, drinking I'm working on, decided america sucks so saved for two years to come back here."

Aelita looked at him wide eyed and shocked. It made her realize how out of contact she was. She just looked at the table then back up for a second before she looked down again. It was hard to say something after that.

" What about you?" Odd asked.

" Oh well, I worked two years before I could even afford college so once I did I started when I was twenty. Book store a few blocks away, been there since I was sixteen so I'm at like fifteen an hour right now," Aelita said then took a sip of her drink the waitress had just placed down. They hadn't decided on what they wanted so the waitress said she'd be back in a minute.

" Working your ass off huh," Odd said then took a drink as well.

" All I could do. My adopted mother died a few years back, she was like seventy when she adopted me. Nothing to give in her will so I was eighteen and alone," Aelita said then placed her cup back on the table then scanned through the menu. Odd did the same and found what he wanted. Aelita did to. When the waitress came back around she wrote it down, and took the menus.

" So, Ulrich told me you and him went out for almost a year," Odd said to her. Aelita nodded, but didn't seem to happy about it.

" Yeah, real long time. I don't know, I guess I was really happy that someone I knew was back and I guess it flowed from there. Then once I got used to it, I kinda lost interest," Aelita said then took another drink.

" He helps with your college fund right?" Odd asked.

" Yeah, he pays for my board. I live off campus but the apartments are owned by the college so it's kinda like boarding school but with less rules."

" What are you majoring in?" Odd asked.

" Sociology," Aelita answered then looked at the table again. " It's a fun class, but I'm also getting a degree in teaching."

" Teacher huh," Odd said with a smile. He could actually imagine her teaching. Aelita smiled then nodded and looked over at the bar. Odd looked to and saw nothing then looked back and saw she was looking at him. Once she realized she was caught she looked at her lap and Odd chuckled.

" What about you?" Aelita asked. " Got a job in mind?"

Odd lowered his head and sighed. He really hadn't thought about it. Music and art he tried at and failed. Just like his father said he would. Other than that he had nothing. Not a doctor, lawyer, dentist, accountant, nothing.

" I have no idea," Odd finally said, " By now I should at least be starting, but I don't know what to start with. The usual place is nice so far, but it isn't exactly a job you can be proud of."

" I understand, but right now it's getting you by and that should help you find time," Aelita said then looked over her shoulder and saw their food was on the way. They ate, talked a little more, left a tip, then left the restaurant.

" It's only about eight, wanna come over, watch a movie or something," Aelita asked Odd as they walked out of the restaurant.

" Sure," Odd answered then they started toward her apartment.

* * *

Odd and Aelita kicked their shoes off at Aelita's door in her one room apartment. The living room was large enough to be satisfied with, and the kitchen was basically in the same room except for a little door frame to separate the rooms. A small hallway led to a bathroom, and her bedroom that was left open. Aelita walked into her living room then started to scan through her movies for one that sounded interesting.

" Action, comedy, or romance?" Aelita asked while scrolling through her movies. Odd sat on the couch then looked at her.

" I really don't want to watch a movie," Odd said to her.

" But you said you did," Aelita said to then stood up.

" No, I said I'd come over, never agreed to a movie," Odd said then stretched. Aelita sat down on the couch next to him then looked at him from a sideways glance.

" What do you want to do then?" Aelita asked. Odd sighed then looked at her, making her look away for second before looking back.

" Just spend time with you, even if we're just sitting in awkward silence," Odd answered. Aelita smiled then looked at her floor.

" That's real sweet Odd," Aelita said then turned her body to face him directly. Odd turned as well and they just looked at each other. Aelita swallowed a little bit then stood up off the couch. " Thirsty?" She asked to change the topic quickly.

Odd sighed then nodded. Aelita nodded back then walked into the next room and opened her fridge. She took a deep breath and looked back at Odd who just sat on the couch looking at the floor. Something just happened that Odd knew Aelita just chickened out of. She wanted to kiss him, but she backed down.

'Why didn't you kiss him?' Aelita asked herself while filling a cup with water from her sink. She leaned against the counter to get her breath back and calm down. 'Please, just let me get through the night,'Aelita said to no one then turned around. Odd was standing right behind her.

" Whoa," Aelita said then dropped the cups in the sink. Odd just stared at her, waiting for her to get pass 'whoa'. " Odd?" Odd placed his hands on the counter around Aelita, trapping her between his arms. Aelita looked at his arms then back at his face.

" What are you doing?" Aelita asked, a little scared, yet somewhat intrigued.

" Excuse me," Odd said then leaned over and kissed her. Odd held it long enough to get a reaction, her lips pressing against his. After ten seconds of a nice first kiss between them they looked at each other after opening their eyes. " Sorry."

" Don't apologize," Aelita said then slid her arms around his neck. Her elbows reached his shoulder as her arms rested against him. She initiated the next kiss and Odd wrapped his arms around her lower back and pulled her a little closer. He noticed immediately that her kissing had gotten stronger and more aggressive in mere seconds.

They wobbled out of the kitchen in each others arms trying to find a place to lay down and continue this spontaneous action. About halfway to the couch Odd decided to try to add tongue and to his liking Aelita played along. The fell onto the couch, both laying on it, but Odd more on top of her than actually on the couch. The kissing got faster, sloppier, and much more passionate as the five minute marker passed.

Odd decided at about ten minutes to go a little more bold. Letting one hand fall to their waists he took as big a breath as he could while kissing her to start to slid his hand up her shirt. Aelita felt his hand on her skin but didn't mind it. Then when she realized where it was going she paused for a second.

'Should I really let him get that far?'Aelita asked herself. Odd noticed she stopped kissing him so stopped sliding up. 'Second's okay, but if he plans on sex he'll have a fight.' Aelita agreed with herself then proceeded. Odd noticed her continued kissing meant go ahead he continued to slide. Up the stomach, touching the base of the bra, almost there.

Suddenly, Odd heard a voice say, " _Don't even think about it perv._"Odd opened his eyes and looked at Aelita. He was pretty sure she didn't say it, but then who did. He slid his hand out of her shirt then sat in th couch off of her.

" What is it?" Aelita asked.

" Nothing, just, gotta go to the bathroom," Odd said then left the couch, but not before giving her a 'to be continued' kiss. He stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Odd didn't have to go the bathroom but he had to figure out what the hell the voice was.

" What the hell was that?" Odd asked aloud quietly.

" _Just the little voice in your head_." Odd eyes widen in shock as he looked around the room for a source. The weirdest thing was he was almost sure it hadn't come from his ears. It was like a thought he couldn't control.

" Excuse me?" Odd asked himself.

" _If I had known what you had planned, I would have left your ass in the computer. You said you were in love, god I knew it was too good to be true_." The voice said to him.

" What are you talking about?" Odd asked then looked in the mirror.

" _I'm the reason you're here. I led you back to get you materialized. If I knew you had your eyes set on her I would have left your ass to float in the abyss_."

" Who the hell are you?" Odd asked, " And more importantly, why are you here."

" _I imprinted myself into your subconscious so I could also get out, just not in my own body. As for who I am, you should know_," The voice said then went blank in Odd's mind. Odd splashed some water in his face then looked at himself in the mirror.

" Who are you, I don't have any idea," Odd asked.

"_ I'll give you a big hint, leave this room, and walk into Aelita's bedroom_," The voice commanded. Odd opened the door and saw Aelita was on the couch fixing her hair. She seemed to be trying to look her best for him and he seemed flattered. " _She's too good for you_."

" That's her decision, not yours," Odd responded while sneaking by and entering her room. He looked around for something that would give his identity away.

Odd looked at the floor, " _Cold_," Odd looked at her computer, " _Warm_," Odd looked at her bed, " _Warmer_," Odd then looked at the wall next to the bed. " _So close you're burning_." Then Odd looked at a post of Einstein on her wall. Odd's eyes widened because he just figured it out. " _Lava_."

Odd reached over and touched the poster with his hand. His mind into many placing as it registered the only person the poster could mean. Odd looked away from the wall then stepped out into the hall again. He slowly walked into the bathroom, not noticing Aelita in the kitchen making something to drink. He looked himself in the eye in the mirror, trying to say something.

" Jeremie?"

" _Bingo_,"Jeremie said back


	11. Not Unbeatable

Midnight had just passed and Ulrich was walking down an alley with his hands in the pockets of his jacket. It was a chilly night with the crescent moon hanging in the sky shrouded by small grey clouds. The buildings he walked between were covered in graffiti and grease stained with decay rotting it away. Dumpsters and metal trash cans were lined against the building with a pungent odor that makes people want to hold their breath as they pass.

Ahead of Ulrich was a group of people. Most of them were punk teenagers, bikers, drug dealers, and prostitutes. A teenaged boy Ulrich saw tucked an item into his pocket after doing business with a dealer and walking away. When Ulrich passed the dealer the man looked at Ulrich.

"Need some fun for tonight?" The dealer asked Ulrich. Ulrich stopped then turned around.

"Not from an asshole who has no problem giving drugs to kids," Ulrich said then stepped toward him.

"What're you, a cop?" The man asked Ulrich. Ulrich quickly grabbed the man by his collar and pushed him against a wall.

"I'm worse than any cop you'll find. I'm not afraid to use physical force to get my point across. If I see your pathetic ass again on bad circumstances you'll need to take your own drugs to forget about what I'll do to you," Ulrich said then three him to the ground. The dealer got to his feet and ran down the alley Ulrich came from, looking back once to see if Ulrich was following him.

"The unbeatable Ulrich Stern does have a conscious after all," a man said to Ulrich from the street corner. Ulrich turned and was facing a man with long black hair, jeans, and a black leather jacket similar to his own. Ulrich had a feeling he'd meet this man before but couldn't remember when.

"Haven't I seen you before?" Ulrich asked in hope to jog his memory a little, then put his hands back into his pockets.

"I was your opponent in the last tournament. In case you've forgot my name is Blank," Blank said then placed a cigarette to his lips and lit it. He took a deep puff that dug into his lungs.

"What do you want?" Ulrich asked.

"Your help," Blank said ten pulled a side of his jacket open. On his chest was a police badge, and hanging off of his shoulder was a loaded pistol in a holster.

"If you're a cop, why didn't you stop the dealer that was just here," Ulrich said, a little unconvinced as he pointed down the alley to the dealer still running. When the dealer hit a main street a police car swerved to a stop and the police swarmed the man and cuffed him.

"That kid you saw earlier who bought some merchandise is in that car as well, you were saying?" Blank asked bluntly then took his smoke with two fingers, inhaled then placed it back to his lips.

"What kind of help?" Ulrich asked then started walking again. Blank exhaled the smoke then started to follow him.

"Your employer, Douglas Wilkenson has quite a reputation as being involved or possibly in charge of a large chain of illegal actions and events," Blank said then placed the smoke on his lips again to inhale.

"What does that have to do with me?" Ulrich asked then stepped off of the curb to cross the street.

"You have inside work directly for Wilkenson. I can go undercover all I want, but that won't get me through many doors. You've been personally involved, so if you cooperate your case might be dropped for assisting an investigation. Wilkenson has been in trial four times but with scared off witnesses and bribes he hasn't been sentenced. If we break up a club, he simply builds another one and the whole things starts all over again. That's why we need you to help get hardcore proof."

"He's just my manager," Ulrich said.

"He's a murderer, rapist, drug runner, kidnapper, pimp, and so much more. The last club we managed to break up three years ago we found preteen girls who had been kidnapped being used for his customers and clients pleasure. We found overdosed teenagers, drunks, rapist, dozens of wanted men having a good time for every imaginable crime."

"It's not my problem," Ulrich said then finished crossing the street.

"It will be Ulrich. Once you're too far into this life style the only way out is in a body bag. If you help, you will be protected, or put into witness protection if necessary. If you don't, you'll go down with him. Some serious shit must have happened to you to make you this desperate, but putting Wilkenson behind bars is the first step to a safer and better life."

"What the hell do you know about me?" Ulrich asked.

"I know you used to be a minor league soccer player, but right now Wilkenson should be your concern, and taking him down. If you lose Ulrich, get sick, or you just can't fight he won't care about you. You honestly think you're the first kid he's done this to. You're a phase, the flavor of the week, and once he's down with you, that's it."

"I never lose," Ulrich said then started to go into the basement club. They were now in a crowd of smoke and alcoholic people.

"Think about this kid, once you go down there, this conversation is over."

Ulrich didn't stop, he just went down stairs without looking back.

* * *

Yumi quickly followed a block behind Hiroki who just turned another corner. When she reached the corner he crossed the street and walked into an alley. Yumi followed him and saw him walk into a crowd of people. Hiroki exchanged talk with his friends then proceeded down into the basement of the building. Yumi's walking turned into a jog to up with him.

Yumi ran around to the stairs and looked down before proceeding. Hiroki was in her vision for a moment before he disappeared from her angle of view. People walked based her into the bottom of the stair were the sound of loud music vibrated the concrete walls. After taking a breath she walked down the stairs and finally saw where Hiroki was going.

It was an underground club. The smell of alcohol was overwhelming, and the music was deafening. Some women Yumi saw were talking with men before taking a few bills and leading him into a separate room. Men and woman sat at the bars placed around for drinking, and people placed bags into their pockets while their business partner counted the money. Female dancers were payed to go on the top of tables and strip for an extra fee. Yumi heard the sound of cheering and saw a large cage in the center were a fight was going on./

Yumi walked to the cage and a saw the brawl that was causing the cheering. The men threw punches at each other, and the crowd cheered loudest when the blows connected. It seemed like a fairly even fight, but Yumi had to find her brother. After a moment she saw Hiroki in the stands and pushed her way toward him.

* * *

Ulrich found it safe to say this was a fairly difficult fight. The man was larger then him to begin with, and he had technique to compliment his speed, size and power. The only way Ulrich found to beat him possible was to counter attack the entire fight. He had to keep his distance, and let him attack him, only striking when he knew it would connect.

Five minutes into the fight Ulrich found the biggest opening he had seen in the entire fight so took it. Ulrich delivered a block to his side then struck his face with the opposite hand. The man wobbled against the fence and was kicked before he could really recover. Grabbing his shirt Ulrich flung him into the sand and began to walk toward him before he saw something out of the corner of his eye.

Ulrich wasn't sure who he saw but she made him stop. The woman had grabbed a boy from the crowd who seemed shocked to see her. As she dragged him away she looked at the fight, and froze as well. The woman looked down at Ulrich, and Ulrich looked at her while mouthing a name.

'Yumi?' Ulrich asked to himself then was tackled into the chainlink. The man had caught Ulrich at the worst moment and took every advantage. Before Ulrich could fight back he was sent sprawling to the sand aching. The man kicked him in the ribs twice to keep him down. Ulrich coughed and was down long enough to be considered out.

* * *

Less than an hour later Ulrich was being held up by two muscular men in a side street. A third man beat him severally while Mr. Wilkenson watched from the wall. This had been going on for several minutes already, and it took almost everything he had to stay conscious. He felt a few of his ribs were broken, and blood was dripping off of his nose and to the cement ground below him. His entire body had gone limp, and the men dropped him to the ground.

Once his body made contact the three men continued by kicking him while he was down before Wilkenson told them to stop and stepped forward. The men picked him up again and Wilkenson looked down at him.

"All you had to do was win," Wilkenson said to Ulrich then kneed him in the stomach. Ulrich grunted loudly and spat blood onto his former managers shoes. Wilkenson punched Ulrich twice then opened his coat pocket and pulled out a loaded pistol.

"I really should just kill you here, I'd be doing this world a favor," Mr Wilkenson said then pressed it into Ulrich's skull.

"No one would miss Ulrich Stern," He said then smiled, "But that's too nice for me."

The two men dropped Ulrich on the cold concrete and left him laying there in pain and bleeding. They knew he wouldn't last the night, so shooting him wasn't really necessary.

"If he somehow appears at a hospital, my employees will call me. If he does, go there, and kill him," he said then left the alley to his parked car. Everyone got in the car and drove off and out of sight.

Ulrich lay on the ground with his head facing the leaving car. He tried with everything he had left to move but nothing was working. His body was throbbing, and slowly blood pooled around his body. The last thing he remembered before the pain knocked him out, was soft footsteps from behind him. They stopped a few feet away and a woman came into his view.

"Ulrich," The woman said sadly, before he passed out.


	12. Three's a crowd

Odd was finding it impossible to fall asleep when a voice was talking to him. The entire time Jeremie's voice was screaming in his head about his advancements toward Aelita, and how stupid he was. Odd took some aspirin, but that wasn't helping at all. He tried earplugs, but remembered that it was already in his head to start with.

' _Ear plugs, you're a god damn genius_,' Jeremie said to him sarcastically.

"Will you just shut the hell up already," Odd said aloud while sitting on the couch in his and Ulrich's apartment.

'_Why would I, I don't sleep unlike you_,' Jeremie said to him.

"Exactly, I have work tomorrow," Odd said then sighed.

'_Yeah, at four in the afternoon_,' Jeremie said to him then laughed, '_You're so pathetic._'

"Yeah, well who's the bigger idiot, the idiot or the idiot stuck in the idiot?" Odd asked him with a smile.

'_Say whatever you want Odd_,' Jeremie said then shut up for a little bit. Just when Odd's eyes creaked closed Jeremie came back.

'_Aelita is far too good for someone like you Odd. She's beautiful, hardworking, determined, and mature. You're lazy, unmotivated uneducated, and you act like a five year old on a sugar high_,' Jeremie said to him.

"Will you just shut the hell up!" Odd screamed aloud.

'_Be carful Mr. Robbia, you'll wake up the neighbors_,' Jeremie said to him, '_And wouldn't it be wonderful to explain to them you got into a fight with the voice in your head. On second thought, keep screaming I think I'd enjoy seeing you being seen as a psycho_.'

"I wasn't planning much with Aelita," Odd said to Jeremie with some irritation.

'_Much, your hand was halfway up her shirt Odd. And if I hadn't intervened just in time, god knows what could have happened_,'Jeremie said like he had done some wonderful deed.

"I wasn't going to have sex with her," Odd half shouted, "I know her better than that."

'_But you can't say that in the corner of your mind, you didn't visualized it. You pulling her legs apart then firmly pressing your body into hers making her..._'

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Odd asked.

'_I'm just Aelita's guardian angel_,' Jeremie said, ' _And besides, I don't blame you for having erotic thoughts. If I was twenty four and a virgin I'd be beating it to those thoughts too_.'

"How do you know that?" Odd asked.

'_That you're in fact a virgin? Odd, I'm in your head. Everything you know, I know. Whatever you think, I think too. And you've told so many stories of your sexual adventures. The twin threesome was my favorite I'll admit_,' Jeremie said to torture him a little more.

"Jeremie, what happened that day?" Odd asked Jeremie. Jeremie went silent for a moment then his voice came back.

'_The day I apparently died?_' Jeremie asked.

"Yeah."

'_Not exactly sure myself, but what you're hearing right now, this voice, is all that's left. Part of my digital code was stranded in limbo, my soul I guess._'

"So, I'm talking to a ghost?" Odd asked.

'_In theory_,' Jeremie answered, '_How did Aelita take my death?_'

"It seems like she's still grieving, but's she over it I guess. She's dating a low life like me now," Odd said then smiled.

'_Take that smirk off your face_,' Jeremie said to him.

"Or what, you'll kick my ass?"Odd asked. Jeremie went silent.

'_Aren't you hilarious_,' Jeremie said in disgust.

"I've always been the funny one," Odd said then closed his eyes while resting his head on the pillow. To his surprise, Jeremie was quiet long enough for him to get some sleep.

* * *

Odd and Aelita for tonight's night out they went shopping. Neither had much to spend so they decided to combine their money and get the other something, and then get something that they could share. They decided to enjoy the weather by walking to the stores instead of taking taxi's and it was much more enjoyable. An hour into the date Aelita got the courage to hold his hand. At first she was scared when she did, but only smiled when he squeezed back.

"Where do you want to go?" Odd asked.

"I don't know, I kind of just wanna browse, you know," Aelita answered while swinging her arm with his.

"Clothing?" Odd asked.

"Odd, not all women need to go to a clothes store every time they leave their home," Aelita said to him.

'_You stereotypical dick_,' Jeremie said to him.

"Shut up," Odd said, but unfortunately too loud.

"What?" Aelita asked.

"I said shut up," Odd said then stuck his face into hers. Aelita smiled then stuck her tongue out at him. Odd did the same and they both laughed.

'_Nice recovery I'll admit_,' Jeremie said. Odd told him to shut up by thinking it. '_Finally, you understand that works too_.'

"Oh Odd, look," Aelita said then pointed across the street. Her finger was pointed directly at a toy store with teddy bears in the display windows.

"Wanna check it out?" Odd asked.

'_Of course she does, why would she point it out if she wasn't interested_?' Jeremie said to him.

'_Good point_,' Odd thought.

"Yeah, let's go," Aelita said then started to lead him across the street. No car was coming so it was safe to go. Aelita arrived at the door first but Odd still managed to open it for her. "Thanks."

'_At least you have the common courtesy shit down_,' Jeremie said to him.

'_I'm not completely stupid_,' Odd said then shut him out of focus as she watched Aelita hold up a bear. No one could have looked cuter holding up a bear like she did.

"You like that?" Odd asked.

'_Of course she..._'

'_Shut up_.'

"I love it," Aelita said as she help up the dark brown teddy bear.

"I'll get for you," Odd said then opened their combined money.

"Okay, now I need to get you something," Aelita said to him.

"It's okay, you don't need to get me anything," Odd said to her.

'_Just let her get you something. If she wants to get you a gift, never fight it. It makes it seem like you don't like her enough to take anything she gives you. If she wants to give you a pink dog, take the damn bitch._'

'_When did you start swearing?_'

'_I was in a computer, alone, for a decade. I'd be surprised if I wasn't bitchy._'

'_Point taken._'

"I don't care Odd, you'll take anything I get you, right?" Aelita asked.

"Yeah, I would," Odd said. Aelita hugged him then they walked to the register to buy the bear.

'_I miss that smile_,' Jeremie said to him.

'_Yeah, well she's smiling at me. And besides, you didn't pay that much attention to her when you were among the living_,' Odd thought to Jeremie.

'_Bullshit, I was great boyfriend_,' Jeremie said.

'_Please, half the time the way you two sat next to each other, or talked, you looked like strangers just meeting. I know she wasn't satisfied with the relationship, she talked to me for advice a lot, and you don't have to ask me if I'm lying, you're in my head after all. Just find the memory_.'

Jeremie was silent for the rest of the night.

_

* * *

_

"No, I haven't seen Ulrich in a few days. He left for 'work' and never showed up again," Odd said as he walked hand in hand with Aelita to her apartment.

"I'm really worried about him, should we call a search?" Aelita asked.

"I'm sure he's fine," Odd said then stopped at her doorstep. She was on the second floor, and Odd looked up at her window.

"Wanna come up?" Aelita asked. Odd smiled and nodded and Aelita smiled then the two entered the building with Aelita's key. Taking the stairs they arrived at her door that she unlocked and closed once they were in.

Aelita placed her teddy bear on her bed then walked into the livingroom where Odd was sitting on the couch with his stuffed white fluffy dog. Aelita got it for him because it reminded her a lot of kiwi. Once the bear was situated on her bed she closed her bedroom door then walked into the living room and sat next to Odd. She leaned over and kiss him once then leaned into him.

"I had a nice night," Aelita said to him with a light sigh of enjoyment.

"Me too," Odd said then wrapped his arm around her. Odd pulled her in a little closer and felt her rubbing her body against his. Odd smiled then looked down at her while she was looking up.

Aelita decided to be bold then turned her body around and kiss him. Odd kissed back then was pulled on top of her on the couch. Once the couch got uncomfortable Odd pulled his head away from her's and smiled.

"Why'd you stop?" Aelita asked.

"It's a little uncomfortable," Odd said to her.

"Want to go to my bed then, it's definitely more comfortable," Aelita said then smiled back, leaning up to kiss him once.

"Sure," Odd answered. Odd stood up then pulled Aelita off the couch. She took his hand then led him to the bed room and collapsed onto her bed in the same position they were in on the couch. Aelita looked at her clock and saw it was a seven, and the next time she looked they had been making out for a half hour.

"That was a fast half hour," Aelita said then smiled up at him. Odd rolled to his side so they could be laying next to each other, noses touching.

"Can I ask you a question Odd?" Aelita asked who nodded in reply, "The other night, when we were advancing pretty quick, why did you stop?" Aelita asked. She could feel the warmth from his hand trailing up her stomach, but he suddenly stopped to go to the bathroom but she never heard a flush.

"I...umm," Odd started.

'_Tell her the truth, you heard a voice calling you a perv_,' Jeremie said out of no where.

'_I thought you left_,' Odd said.

'_Nope, just got interesting, keep going_.'

"Odd?"

"It's just, I haven't gotten that far with a girl before, I got nervous and I needed a little air," Odd said to her.

"You, not far. Oh come on Odd, you can come up with a better excuse than that," Aelita said with a smile, that dropped once she realized he was actually being honest. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have expected that."

"I've told stories that never happened. I was a pennyless kid living on the street coming in and out of drug rehab. Trust me, I wasn't getting much affection at all," Odd said then sat up on the bed. Aelita sat up as well then wrapped her arms around him.

"I don't care Odd, and I'm actually glad you told me. I bet it wasn't easy for you. I can't say it was easy for me, but you are trying to improve, and keep at it, and I'm so inspired by that. Just never give up Odd, I'll be cheering you on the entire time and I'll help where I can," Aelita said then him then hugged him tighter.

"Thanks," Odd said silently, but loud enough for her to hear. Odd felt Aelita pulling him back down to the bed and her lips press against his.

"Close your eyes," Aelita said to him. Odd did, and heard some ruffling sound then her lips against his again. When he wrapped his arms around her back, he felt it was bare and opened his eyes mid kiss. She had taken her shirt off.

"Aelita, what're you.." Odd started to say before she kiss him back.

"No talking Odd," Aelita said to him then pulled up the cover and crawled under then with Odd. On instinct Odd took his shirt on and then wrapped himself around Aelita. After ten minutes of kissing, Odd began to attempt to slid his hand down but Aelita grabbed his hand.

"Not on a first date," Aelita said to him firmly. Odd didn't fight, he just but her hand behind her back again and continued to kiss her.


	13. Regaining Consciousness

Ulrich's eyes were so heavy it was difficult to lift them. He knew that if he was in that bad of shape, he should just go to bed and wake up when he could open his eye without effort, so he closed them, and fell asleep a moment later. Before he closed them he tried to examine his surroundings. A white ceiling, curtains blowing around next to an open window, a strange plush doll on the ground. He noticed his body wasn't elevated very high so knew it was either just a mattress or a futon. To his right there was a bowl of water with bloody bandages all around it, and figured those were from him. After he saw all that he passed out again.

Everyone now and then Ulrich would open his eyes again and keep them open long enough to get a general idea of how long he was asleep for. The forth time he woke up he felt like he'd been asleep for a least a week. The bandages disappeared so he figured his bleeding was under control, and he was just regaining his strength now. After what seemed to be two weeks Ulrich's strength was enough for him to attempt getting up and out of the bed to get a better understanding of where he was.

He almost immediately noticed he was in nothing but his underwear so looked around for his clothes. His pants were folded neatly on the dresser in the room so he quickly slipped them on and saw a hoody next to it. There was a note next to them that said, '_If you wake up when I'm not here, just wait in the kitchen._'

Ulrich slowly slid on the hoody, his legs strong enough to let him walk but his arms were still stiff and trembling. Walking out of the room he found himself in a hallway that led to two more rooms and a set of stairs leading down. For some reason this place felt familiar but his head was still too foggy to figure it out. Slowly he went for the stairs and took a first step. So far, so good.

Ulrich took the stairs a step at a time and saw they curved into the main floor. With five steps to go he stepped too far and his heel slipped off the stair. Normally he could catch himself, but he couldn't prevent himself from falling front first and rolling down the rest of the stairs. His body slammed to the main floor with a loud thud that knocked the wind out of him.

"God...dammit," Ulrich said to himself as he struggled to get to his feet, but that fall stripped away all chanced of getting up for a few minutes.

"Oh crap, Hiroki help me," A woman's voice said from the opening of another room. She sprinted to him then knelt next to him, but Ulrich could only see her feet.

"Hiroki!" The woman shouted louder.

"I heard you the first time," A teenaged boy said then ran in to help his older sister. Both grabbed him by the shoulders and hoisted him off the ground and helped him walk into the living room of the their house. The placed Ulrich on the couch and the woman began to frantically look for any damage.

"Did you get hurt more?" She asked him, then looked at his face for a reply. Ulrich just looked back at her. A beautiful Japanese woman with long flowing black hair, a thin and slender body concealed in tight light blue jeans and a grey shirt. She was a new face, and yet familiar. In his mind he imagined her with short hair and all black clothing.

"Yumi?" Ulrich asked, hoping this wasn't an illusion from his pain.

"I'm surprised you recognized me," Yumi said then lifted up his shirt to check something. "Well you didn't rip your stitches thank god."

"Where the hell am I?" Ulrich asked.

"My dad's house. Well, my house legally now. He left it in his will for me," Yumi said then ran her soft hands across Ulrich's side were his skin had been broken deep enough to require stitches.

"Why didn't you just take me to a hospital?" Ulrich asked.

"You'd be dead, the people who did this to you have people on the inside. The only way to save you was to do it myself," Yumi said with a smile then finished checking the bandages that were wrapped around him.

"I didn't even notice those," Ulrich said.

"This should be the last change of bandages. You've been out for about two weeks, I've had to feed you when you were conscious enough to eat. So you'll need to regain your strength," Yumi said then tried to help him up.

"Come on, you're up just in time for breakfast," Yumi said then helped Ulrich off the couch. She crutched him to the kitchen then sat him down on a chair at the table were Hiroki was already enjoying his food. A bowl of rice with an egg mixed in.

"What's that?" Ulrich asked.

"Bi Pong Moun, egg and rice," Hiroki said then took a bite with his chopsticks skillfully.

"Raw egg?" Ulrich asked and received a nod.

"Is that Japanese?" Ulrich asked.

"Cambodian I think, then again Japan just borrows and adapts everything. Want a bowl?" Hiroki asked Ulrich.

"I'll pass, I got this thing with about eating raw eggs," Ulrich said then heard a bowl land next to him. A bowl of plain rice with some cooked beef placed next to it.

"Mix how you want," Yumi said then walked around the table and kissed Hiroki on the head. She then grabbed her purse and house keys off of the table then started to walk toward the front door.

"I should be back around five or six. Drink plenty of water, and don't lift heavy objects, you'd be surprised how easily you'll rip those stitches. Try to stay inside since I think they might be looking for you once you didn't appear at the morgue. Okay?" Yumi asked Ulrich who just nodded then looked at his food.

"Thanks, I can't make it up to you now, but I will," Ulrich said then looked back at her.

"I wanted to help. Haven't seen you in ten years, and when I do. With all the times you've saved me before, I owed you that at least. I'll be back later, Hiroki, don't be late for school."

"I know," Hiroki said then waved with his chop sticks. She smiled at both of them then the next they heard was the front door closing.

"Are you still holding a torch for my sister?" Hiroki asked.

"Why do you ask?" Ulrich asked.

"I just don't think hiding someone who a bunch of gangsters tried to kill is a very smart idea," Hiroki said then took a bit of yoke soaked rice.

"Why was she there to begin with?" Ulrich asked.

"That's my fault, my friends drag me into a lot of stuff. I just watch the fights, that's all. She saw me sneaking out so came to get me. I see you a lot, you normally kick ass, what happened?"

Ulrich remembered that fight. He could have sworn he saw Yumi, then he was out of it. Now he knew he did see her, and that he wasn't just seeing what he wanted to.

"Just got distracted, that all. Nearly killed me too," Ulrich said then looked over at him.

"You're really heavy you know that. Yumi and I had to carry you all the way home while looking out for cops or those guys. I have no idea why she's helping you so much, we could've just left your ass there."

"Well thank you for not just leaving me there. Where do you go to school?" Ulrich asked.

"Kadic, they expanded the school so now it teaches junior high and highschool levels. Too bad huh, you couldn't spent more time with Yumi. Didn't you get expelled?"

"Long time ago, long story," Ulrich said not really in the mood to talk about it.

"Thought so," Hiroki said then tipped the bowl toward his mouth to scoop out the last grains of rice.

"House is yours, lock it up after I leave," Hiroki said then rinsed his bowl in the sink and grabbed his bag off the table. Ulrich limped with him to the door and dead bolted it once Hiroki shut the door.

Ulrich walked into the kitchen then sat on the chair and started to eat like Yumi had instructed. All of his clothes were at the apartment still, but he couldn't go there. His money was there as well, but he figured if Odd needed to pay the rent he could just go into Ulrich's stash, hence the reason he told him of it's existence. Taking a few bites of the beef he threw some rice on top of it so the rice wouldn't be so bland.

"I cheated death," Ulrich said to himself then took another bite.

* * *

Yumi came home at five thirty and unlocked the door using her keys. Hiroki was already home and in his room doing his homework and Ulrich was his room sleeping some of the pain off. Yumi softly shut the door behind her then walked over to the kitchen when the phone rang. She walked over to it and answered it after three rings.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Yumi, you are there," Her mother said to her surprised.

"Mom, what is it?" Yumi asked.

"You left without a word. You didn't even tell me your father died, how's Hiroki taking it?" Ms. Ishiyama asked. She kept her married name.

"He's fine, I booked the first flight here, and left. Sorry I haven't called. How's my apartment, I kinda forgot about that till now?"

"Most of the money in your account is covering it, but your stuff is still here. What are you going to do?" Ms. Ishiyama asked.

"Stay here, I already got a job and the house is under my name since dad put me under his will for it. Hiroki's an honor student," Yumi said with a smile.

"Should I pack up your stuff and ship it to you?" Ms. Ishiyama asked.

"If you could and I'll mail you the key to the apartment so I don't have to pay for that anymore. Okay, want to talk to Hiroki?" Yumi asked.

"Of course," Ms. Ishiyama answered.

"Hiroki, moms on the phone!" Yumi shouted upstairs then heard him coming down a few moments later. She handed the phone off the Hiroki then walked up the stairs to go check on Ulrich. Yumi heard Hiroki on the phone so entered Ulrich's room and saw him sleeping peacefully in the bed, his chest rising up and down stronger than it had in the last week.

"I'm awake," Ulrich said to her then opened his eyes.

"How're you feeling?" Yumi asked Ulrich as she shut the door and walked over to him. She crouched next to him, her hair hanging only a few inches from the floor.

"Better, I'm just glad I was unconscious for most of it. How do you know how to stitch so well?" Ulrich asked.

"Well, I spent four years at a medical college in Japan. I was going to be a doctor. I continued my training in med school for two years and came out with a degree in nursing and healthcare. I sent my resume to hospitals, and I crossed my fingers," Yumi said then just decided to sit on the end of his futon.

"And, what happened after that. Are you still a nurse?" Ulrich asked.

"Never got that chance. No one returned my resume, and my college money was spent so I needed something to pay rent and my loans. Push came to shove, I got more desperate, and..." Yumi said while shaking her head.

"And what?" Ulrich asked.

"I wanted to start good in life. Everyone always told me, go to college and you're ensured to get somewhere. I got nowhere, nothing got better, and I didn't get a career. I hear my friends talking about their jobs. I'm a doctor, I'm a teacher, I'm...something. Just something is better than nothing. When they talk about that, I leave, because when they ask me what I do, I can only say. Well, I'm a striper," Yumi said sadly.

"A what?"

"A striper, you know I get naked for money, dance all exotic like to make men place two thousand yen in my thong strap. I bet everyone in that bar just thinks, I'm so glad this girl screwed up so I can see her tits. I did what I was supposed to do, I went to college, I studied my ass off, and I got nowhere for it, nothing to show."

"Better than me," Ulrich said then sat up in the bed.

"Ulrich, I expose myself to pay the rent, anything is better than that," Yumi said then sighed.

"I expose myself too, in a different way. I didn't go to college. I could've, one hundred or so schools would have given me a scholarship for soccer. I had the money, and I wasted it. I used it to try out for the minor leagues, rush to the finish if you will."

"I saw that game," Yumi said then looked at him. Ulrich looked at her and she just lowered her head.

"I watched soccer all the time, just hoping I might see you. And I did, I watched you play all the time. I cheered for you, I was your biggest fan. Then you get slide tackled and your leg snaps. You were being recruited by half of Europe, then nothing. What did you do after that?"

"Took me eight months to fully recover. I tried getting back on the field of course, but they said I wasn't worth the risk, I get injured too easily. I got desperate, and that led to anger. One day I was at a bar hating myself, when I saw him. Travis Uttman, the guy who tackled me. I jumped at him, and before I knew it, I'd been hitting him so much, when I stopped, I could barely lift my arms," Ulrich said.

"You didn't, kill him did you?" Yumi asked, to make sure Ulrich wasn't a murderer.

"No I didn't, he's still playing soccer. But someone watched my outbreak. Douglas Wilkenson. He's a fight promoter, and he runs the underground clubs around this area. He recruited me, thought I had combat potential, and made me his main attraction. I needed money, and he needed a fighter, case closed," Ulrich said then looked at Yumi.

"I guess both our lives suck," Yumi said with a fake smile then looked at her feet.

"Aelita's working on hers," Ulrich said, just to give her hope that one of them made it.

"Really, she's still around, what about Odd?" Yumi asked.

"Odd's my roommate as of recent, and last I knew him and Aelita were actually going out," Ulrich said with a smile.

"No way, him and Aelita. That's actually kind of cute when I think about it. What's Aelita's doing?"

"Finishing up college, she's done this spring. Wants to be a teacher. Odd's still trying to figure it out but at least he isn't doing illegal work or striping, at least I think he isn't striping," Ulrich said making Yumi giggle a little.

"I don't know, he is svelte after all," Yumi said to play along. They both laughed then looked at each other.

"Some life huh?" Ulrich asked, and received a nod in reply. Yumi stood up then pushed her hair behind her back.

"If you need anything just shout," Yumi said then started to walk.

"Just out of curiosity, have you sent your resume to the hospital here? Japan might have been booked, but now you still have that option," Ulrich said just to offer a suggestion.

"I've been so busy, I didn't think of that. I might just do that," Yumi said with a smile to thank him, then shut the door behind her. Ulrich placed his head back on the pillow just looking up at the ceiling. One thing was going through his mind.

The many ways he could kill Wilkenson once he recovered.


	14. Lyoko 2

Odd opened his eyes and felt so much warmer than he usually did in the morning. The bed shifted a little and Odd looked at the beautiful pink haired woman in his arms. Aelita had her back to his chest, and was twitching in her sleep for some reason. Odd then noticed it was because when he moved, he was now breathing on the back of her neck, and her hair was tickling her. He took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled on her arm, making her spasm enough to wake up.

"Hmm," Aelita groaned then looked around her shoulder, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," Odd said then fell back to the pillow and pressed his lips against Aelita's bare back. She groaned with pleasure, then twisted her body around to face him.

"When do you start classes today?" Odd asked.

"I don't," Aelita said with a smile then kissed him.

"What do you want to do today?" Odd asked.

"I just got up, I don't get my shit together till about ten on off days," Aelita said then looked at her clock. It was only eight in the morning with the sun bleeding through the blinds. Aelita and Odd had been dating for three weeks now, and she was still amazed at how fast they were developing. It wasn't even a month and she was already topless.

"I'm going to take a shower and make breakfast, what do you want?" Odd asked.

"Ask me in five minutes," Aelita said then closed her eyes. Odd smiled then kissed her on the cheek and got up.

Odd walked out of her room then to the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He took his pants off and looked for a towel. Seeing a few stacked on the sink he grabbed one and hung it on the bar next to the curtain. He finished undressing and stepped into the shower, turned the knob, and judged the temperature with his right hand.

_'Good morning sunshine,' _Jeremie said to him.

"Can you at least wait till noon to bother me?" Odd asked then turning the water up a little bit.

_'It would take the fun away. So, you gotta admit, she's developed,' _Jeremie said, mainly referring to Aelita's now existing breasts. C cups at that.

"Yeah, they feel good too, and that sigh of pleasure she gives me when I squeeze them," Odd said just to rub it in.

_'You need to grow up. That's as far as you'll ever get with her. And you're stupid for getting your hopes up,'_ Jeremie said. Odd pulled the spray release, making the water pour down on him. The first five seconds the water was freezing, but it warmed up to what he had set it. Just as he started getting his hair wet, he heard the bathroom door creak open.

Odd pulled the shower curtain back and saw Aelita standing there. She smiled at him the say way she was last night, and stopped in front of him.

"May I join you?" Aelita asked. Odd just smiled and nodded while he watched Aelita undress.

_'I'll remember to not get my hopes up,' _Odd said to Jeremie as Aelita stepped into the shower.

* * *

Odd made Aelita breakfast then sat at her table with her to eat. Aelita seemed to enjoy his cooking more than her own. She could make eggs as long as they were scrambled, but Odd could make her favorite, over easy without popping the yoke.

"Where did you learn how to cook?" Aelita asked.

"When I was younger, I was a complete mommas boy. Followed my mom around everywhere, never left her alone. She's a great cook so I learned a few things. Eggs are the basics and I also know a few full coarse meals. Roast beef, steaks, and baked chicken, those sort of things. If you want I'll make you dinner sometime."

_'Oh please,' _Jeremie groaned.

"I'd love that," Aelita said with a smile then finished her breakfast a few bites behind Odd.

_'What's your idea of a romantic night out Jeremie? Program a computer and build a robot, don't you oh please me,' _Odd shot back to Jeremie to shut him up.

Odd cell phone went off and he dropped his fork on the plate then checked to see who it was.

"Oh man, it's Ulrich," Odd said then showed Aelita.

"Ask him where he's been," Aelita said, since she was starting to get worried. Correction, she started to getting worried a week ago.

"Ulrich, what the hell?" Odd said right away when he answered.

"Long time no see," Ulrich said then chuckled, "I just called to say if some people come to the apartment, I've moved. I wrote the check for Aelita's board, it's in my room on my dresser, and in the third drawer is a stash of cash, should be enough to pay the rent in that. What have I missed?"

"What have you missed? Where the hell have you been. It's been nearly a month man, Aelita and I were scared shitless for you."

"I'm sorry, things happened at work. Illegal work has its moments and then my boss left me for dead. I can't tell you much more than that. I'm hiding at a friends house right now till I recover, and once I take care of things I'll stop by alright," Ulrich said then waited.

"Whatever, just don't get killed," Odd said then said bye. He hung up the phone and put it back into his pocket.

"At least we know he's alright," Aelita said then took their plates and washed them in the sink. Odd didn't think it wise to tell her, okay was possibly a stretch.

* * *

"It's so weird," Aelita said as she checked her email.

"What is?" Odd asked.

"You remember those creepy emails I got, the one's from 'jeremie' warning us about stuff?" Aelita asked. She kept one of each message so she wouldn't forget what they said. Odd nodded then leaned onto her chair.

"Since we went to the lab, not one has popped up again. Why did they stop coming?" Aelita asked.

_'Okay, start explaining,' _Odd said to Jeremie.

_'Oh, I almost forgot about that. Some people were operating on lyoko from a different link. They could only operate a small portion of the programming since it takes a supercomputer to run it all smoothly. They managed to learn the basics of the programs to find a way to create their own scanners. I had to get the word out, so I used their link to send Aelita the messages.'_

_'What happened when we turned the system on. I know we shut it off again, but could that have helped them for a moment?' _Odd asked.

_'I suppose it's possible. The only thing we can do now is go to the lab and have a conversation with them,' _Jeremie said then waited for Odd to do something. _'Well, suggest it already you ditz.'_

"Aelita, when we went to the lab, we found out someone else was running lyoko, so maybe we should go back?" Odd said then looked at her.

"Not without a second person. I'm not sending you in there alone. The only two people we can send in are Ulrich and Yumi, and we have no idea where Ulrich is, and even less of an idea of where Yumi is now a days."

"They aren't our only options," Odd said, making Aelita look back at her.

"You're not suggesting?" Aelita asked.

_'I think not,' _Jeremie said once he overheard what Odd had in mind.

_'You're a voice, no one cares about your opinion,' _Odd said.

"It's too risky getting Sissi involved again. I really have no idea why you and Ulrich brought her along last time," Aelita said, just trying to find an excuse to keep Odd out of lyoko.

"Do we have an option?" Odd asked. Aelita lowered her head then looked at her computer screen. 'He's back,' was the first message. That had to have meant something bad.

_'Is xana back?' _Odd asked when he read the message over Aelita's shoulder.

_'Not that I know of, just something to get her attention,'_ Jeremie said just to put that to rest.

_'You're not safe, none of you are?' _Odd asked.

_'If someone is messing with the computer, I'd imagine that possible.'_

_'There's more than one? One what?'_

_'That message was cut off, they thought I was a virus so put up a stronger firewall, nothing I could do. More than one lab, just telling you we're messing with an outside force.'_

"Call her up," Aelita said once she finally gave in. Odd took out his cell phone and looked through his received calls. He hadn't added her number, but she had called a few times wondering why Ulrich wasn't at breakfast.

* * *

"She sounded a little eager on the phone don't you think?" Aelita asked.

"Who cares, just as long as we get this settled," Odd said then turned away from the sidewalk and started to walk across the bridge to the factory. Sissi came into view and when she did, Aelita grabbed Odd's hand.

"We hold hands now?" Odd asked, since this was only the third time they had.

"You're my boyfriend, I can hold your hand when ever I want to," Aelita said before they stopped in front of Sissi.

"So we're going to go back into that place? Where's Ulrich, I haven't seen him for nearly a month," Sissi said then looked at Aelita's and Odd's hands. She sighed then looked at the elevator.

"Come on," Aelita said then started to lead Odd down the stairs, tightening her grip. Odd suddenly realized why. She was on the defensive, giving Sissi the 'fuck off' message without having to say it.

The three stepped into the elevator and pressed the button. Odd just looked at the shutter of the elevator, or at Aelita. He knew one glance at Sissi and they'd talk about it later. Sissi even had to tempt Odd with a skirt and a tank top, but he averted his eyes the best he could.

_'Just take a peek, we know you want to,'_ Jeremie said to try to make him turn his head.

_'Looking at other women in front of her isn't a smart idea. If you had one girlfriend you'd know that,'_ Odd said to shut him up.

_'At least I didn't date the entire eighth grade in one semester,' _Jeremie shot back.

_'At least I was dating,' _Odd said.

The elevator door opened and Aelita stepped off first, dragging Odd with her. She sat down and remembered the system was off.

"Sissi come here, Odd, could you turn it back on?" Aelita asked, trying her best to keep them separated. It wasn't that she didn't trust Odd, she didn't trust Sissi. Odd nodded then left to the core with the elevator, leaving the girls alone.

"So, you and Odd," Sissi to start a conversation. Aelita smiled at her then nodded then looked away. Aelita saw the way Sissi was looking at Odd, and she didn't like it.

"So, how's the sex?" Sissi asked.

"I only do that unless I'm sure I love him," Aelita said then crossed her arms and leaned into the seat.

"Do you, love him?" Sissi asked. Aelita lost her voice and looked at Sissi, trying to respond.

"It's...working so far, just need time to...be sure," Aelita said then looked away again.

"Do you think you love him?" Sissi asked. Aelita opened her mouth, then closed it once she realized she couldn't immediately answer. Then the computer came alive and she found a way to avoid the question.

"Let's see what's going on," Aelita said then started to type. Sissi rolled her eyes and leaned against the chair.

"How's it looking?" Odd asked when the elevator docked.

"What the hell?" Aelita asked to no one. Odd looked over the screen and looked over her shoulder. Lyoko had changed dramatically.

All of the land mass with the four terrain sectors had been altered to make them look like continents. Sector five had been stretched out to connect to all of the other sectors through a dungeon like environment. Looking at the programming further, she saw that invisible walls had been placed to block out the digital sea, to prevent that kind of death in most places. Structures that looked like buildings created small villages, each structure changing from region to region. It looked like a video game.

"It's looks like final fantasy in there...is that a dragon?" Odd asked as a dragon hovered over the trees in the forest sector.

"I think it is," Aelita said then looked at Odd, who looked back at her.

"I'm going in," Odd said then started to walk to the elevator.

"Me too," Sissi said then walked after Odd. Aelita wanted to say no, but that was the reason they brought her here in the first place.

Sissi leaned against the wall as the doors closed. Odd stood as far away from her as possible, too let Aelita see that before she couldn't see him anymore.

"So, you and Aelita," Sissi said to start a conversation, "I would say gross, but it was proven at the end of the ninth grade she wasn't your cousin," Sissi said then looked over at him.

"Not my cousin," Odd said then looked at her, since now he could.

"Anything interesting happen yet?" Sissi asked. Odd knew what she was really asking. 'Have you two had sex yet?'

_'She's worse than I remember,' _Jeremie said with disgust.

"We aren't having sex, we're saving that for a better time," Odd said the best he could to cover the fact he wanted to stop waiting.

"Do you know how long it took Ulrich to get my panties off?" Sissi asked.

"How would I know?" Odd asked.

"Three dates," Sissi said then stepped off of the elevator when the door opened.

"You've changed Odd, I thought you were annoying in jr. high. Cute, but annoying. Now, well you're dating Aelita, it's a shame for me," Sissi said then stepped into the scanner that closed behind her.

_'I have a suggestion, we find a way to materialize my body, put my mind back into it, and I start dating Aelita again. You start dating Sissi, get laid and all the above. We all win,' _Jeremie said.

_'If you had a body, I'd tell you to go fuck yourself,' _Odd said then stepped into his own scanner. A flashing light greeted him, and he was on his way to the now completely unfamiliar lyoko.


	15. Making up for Lost Time

**_I went to Six Flag Great America today, and I got sunburned pretty bad. My arms and face or so burnt, it makes it extremely apparent how white I really am. The good new from the trip is I won a pink monkey with velcro hands so he can latch onto my neck so I don't have to carry him. The first weekend of the school year is coming up, and I'm just glad the first week is over and i'm readjusted to waking up in the A.M. Read and Review you wouldn't mind._**

**_

* * *

_**

Ulrich found it an unfamiliar feeling after nearly a month to move without pain. It had become normal to him, but he had no problem getting passed the fact it didn't hurt to breathe anymore. The bandages had been off for a week, but Yumi was strict when it came to him not ripping his wound open. It didn't hurt to do conventional things like, walking or breathing, but if he stressed his body he'd feel a pinch in his side.

Yumi opened the door to Ulrich's room and saw him doing pushups next to the futon. Yumi sighed then leaned against the door and stared at him until he noticed she was there. Ulrich pulled himself into a squat then sat on the futon.

"What did I tell you, don't put stress on it," Yumi said then walked over to him and lifted up the side of his shirt. She looked at the scar on his side and ran her finger down it to find any point of injury.

"I told you I'm fine now," Ulrich said then stood up and stretched. Ulrich stretched to far up and felt a stab of pain hit his side, making him lower his arms, his right hand covering the scar.

"Fine my ass," Yumi said then looked at the scar again and sighed once more, "You need to take it easy."

"I can't take it easy. I guarantee Mr. Wilkenson's men are looking for me," Ulrich said then looked over at the window and the closed blinds.

"That's all the better reason to keep your head down," Yumi said then gestured for him to sit back down on the futon. Ulrich sat down then fell against the pillow behind him, having to readjust it to be under his head not his shoulders.

"What would you do if he found you?" Yumi asked.

"Kill him, plain and simple," Ulrich said then blinked twice and looked at the ceiling. Yumi frowned then looked at her feet. She exhaled her breath then looked back at Ulrich as he stared into space.

"Is killing him the only thing that would satisfy you?" Yumi asked.

"Yep," Ulrich answered then looked back at her, "He destroyed my life, the least he could do is let me end his."

"It doesn't make it right," Yumi said then sat on the end of the futon, parting her hair to do so.

"That's said by the person who's done the right thing her entire life. How far did that get you?" Ulrich asked then stood up off of the bed and started to walk out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Yumi asked.

"I'm going to talk to someone. He might be able to answer a few questions I have," Ulrich said then opened the door more and stepped into the hall.

"You can't leave the house!" Yumi shouted then ran out of the door after him. Ulrich was already to the stairs and starting to walk down them when Yumi turned out of the room and dashed down the hall. Ulrich reached the bottom of the stairs at the same time and stood in front of him.

"Move," Ulrich said then crossed his arms.

"No, I won't let you risk being seen?" Yumi said then stretched her arms out in front of him.

"Is this an intervention or something?" Hiroki asked from the living room.

"Shut the hell up Hiroki!" Yumi shouted then kept eye contact with Ulrich who was still standing with his arms crossed.

"Get out of my way," Ulrich said and continued to stare her down.

"I'm scared that I'll see you walk out, and I'll have to wait another ten years to see you again. If I ever do," Yumi said then looked at her feet, breaking the gaze. Ulrich sighed then placed his right hand on her shoulder.

"I'm not stupid enough to get caught. I know practically everyone who works from him. Just give me a hoody, and I'll keep it up. I'm coming back," Ulrich said to Yumi who lifted up her head and tried to hide the fact she was starting to cry. She wiped her face then looked back at him again. Yumi stepped out of his way, and Ulrich walked passed her, grabbing the hoody sitting on the couch. Yumi couldn't take watching him leave, so didn't turn around until after the door shut.

* * *

Ulrich moved swiftly through the streets in the early afternoon. Kids were in school, so the only people he walked by were people who commuted by foot or bike, and couples walking with a stroller, smiling at their bundle of joy who was sleeping in the sunlight. Keeping the hood up and his head down, Ulrich walked through the streets toward the police department to talk to detective Blank. 

The police department was empty except for a man in his uniform leaning against the information desk while watching a soap opera on the small television on his desk.

"Here to file a complaint, or bail someone out?" The man asked as he chewed his gum, making annoying smacking noises that echoed in the room.

"I'd like to speak to detective Blank," Ulrich said since he wasn't exactly sure what to call him. His badge said detective, but he wasn't sure if Blank was his real name or not.

"Detective Blank?" The man asked an chuckled, "The lunatic?"

"Lunatic?" Ulrich asked.

"Simon Blank had his badge voided three years ago. He's a free lance detective now," the man said then grabbed a pad a pen and started to write something.

"Voided?" Ulrich asked.

"Did I stutter. The best I can do, is give you his address. Look for the bad lawn, and the crooked blinds," the man said then handed Ulrich the sheet of paper, "What do you want with him anyway?"

"I'm not quite sure anymore," Ulrich said then took the paper and looked at it before he walked out to give Blank a house call.

* * *

The walk to Blank's house was nearly an hour out of his way. Ulrich had to make a mental note on how to get back. Him of all people knew what happened if you wandered into an alley after midnight. You walk into he alley, and no one would find you until trash day when your body falls out of the dumpster. 

The outside of the house distinguished it from the rest of the neighborhood. The lawn was unkept and had turned brown in some places. The weeds had taken over, and the bushes were untamed. It was two stories, the first floor windows all having blinds that were down halfway, and then tilted with one edge hitting the window seal. The second floor window on the right side of the house was blocked by a blind, and the one to the left was up all of the way.

Ulrich slowly walked up the walkway to the small cement porch and rang the doorbell. Ulrich looked at the window for movement and saw a shadow rush by the window. The door was flung open and a man grabbed Ulrich by his collar and pulled him into the house.

Ulrich hit his back and slid against a wall. The sound of a gun loading made Ulrich look up and see Blank pointing the gun at his head.

"Wilkenson finally sends his assassin, shame it had to be you," Blank said and closed his left eye to aim better.

"Wait, I'm not here on Wilkenson's demand. I quit that business," Ulrich said, his heart racing as Blank finger twitch on the trigger.

"Bullshit, no one can quit that business without being in a body bag. What the hell made you so special that Wilkenson just up and let you go?" Blank asked.

"He didn't," Ulrich said then saw Blank open his right eye again, "That night you talked to me, I lost."

Blank lowered the gun and scanned Ulrich carefully. Blank blinked twice, then raised the gun up again.

"Why are you alive then?" Blank asked.

"Wilkenson left me for dead. A friend of mine found me in the alley, and I've been recovering for the last month. Want to see the scars?" Ulrich asked then lifted up his shirt. The scar was undoubtably fresh, and Blank lowered the gun again then placed it on his coffee table.

"What are you doing here?" Blank asked then took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He made the filter of one pop out, then hooked it with his lips then lit it in a matter of seconds.

"I want to help you," Ulrich said then decided it was safe to stand up so did so.

"Can't let a civilian get involved, and since you're not a member of his inner circle, you're not very useful anymore," Blank said then sat on his couch and inhaled the smoke.

"You're also a civilian, you had your badge voided three years ago. Would you mind explaining that?" Ulrich asked then leaned against the wall Blank threw him against. Blank held the cigarette with his middle and index fingers on his right hand and leaned down with his elbows on his knees.

"Look kid, just because I don't have a badge doesn't mean the police don't know what I'm up to. A detective named Uri Salvareo is possibly the only legitimate police officer in the city. Wilkenson has the cops, the fire department, and some hospital employees on his pay role. The city officials are scared of him, and he has the mayor in his back pocket. Don't get involved unless you don't have anyone important to you."

"Did you?" Ulrich asked.

"Yes, I did," Blank said then took a breath of smoke then exhaled it slowly.

"Five years ago I was so close to busting him. I had evidence, I had witnesses willing to testify against him, the works. Three days before the trial that would have undoubtably given him the chair, he paid me a house call," Blank said then sighed.

"What happened?"

"I came home late from a meeting with the attorney. When I walked in, I was hit with a bat and knocked out. When I woke up, I was tied to that chair," Blank said then pointed at a wooden chair in the kitchen. On the seat and back rest were small blood stains.

"My wife was on her knees, tied up and gagged, my three daughters were next to her. He tortured them in front of me, telling me to not go to court or he'd keep doing it. I didn't talk, I didn't say I wouldn't. I didn't submit. Uri Salvareo arrived to pay me a visit. He was my trainee back then, he was worried when I said I'd call him and didn't. In a last second panic Wilkenson shot me, missed though, only got my arm, and right before he went out the door and severely injured Uri, had his men execute my family."

Blank said then looked at his ceiling then back down to his feet. He inhaled his cigarette, finishing it then extinguished the ember in the ashtray that was almost full. Ulrich looked at the chair then back at Blank who pointed the floor in front of Ulrich. The blood stains never were fully removed from the wooden floor.

"What about the court?" Ulrich asked, though the end result was obvious.

"Wilkenson walked of course. The execution of my family scared off the witnesses, who had their own families to worry about. I was relieved of my services, the chief is one of Wilkenson's employees. Uri gives me the information I need, and I help him by getting the stuff from where he can't go. In all honesty, this way is more effective."

"Why were you at the club, he'd definitely recognize you," Ulrich asked.

"I look nothing like I did five years ago trust me. Suit, tie, well mannered, with an overall happy outlook on live. Does that look like me?" Blank asked. Ulrich shook his head then looked at the wall and saw that no pictures were in the house. He was surprised he didn't notice that already. Dust stains were lightened on the walls were pictures used to be.

"How old were your daughters?" Ulrich asked, though he knew he shouldn't. Digging up old memories was probably not what Blank wanted to do.

"Katie was the oldest, ten years old, smart like her mother, clumsy like her too. Kelly was seven and she already liked boys. Katie was terrified of boys of course. Katrina was only three, but she was smart, so smart. We couldn't keep our eyes off of her. She could open any door in the house, climb on the counters, she was a handful," Blank said then smiled just from remembering about them, then remembered they were dead a moment later.

"Do you have anyone important to you?" Blank asked, since that question seemed fair now.

"If I said no, would you believe me?" Ulrich asked.

"Of course not. You have a friend who hid you and cared for you for a month. Was it a woman?" Blank asked.

"Yes," Ulrich said then looked at his shoes.

"Love is an odor, and you reek," Blank said then chuckled and stood up from his couch. He walked over to Ulrich and stood in front of him. Blank placed his hand on Ulrich's shoulder and sighed.

"Look kid, here's some advise. Get the hell out of this city. Get out, take her with you, don't look back. If you don't want to risk her life, don't risk your own," Blank said then let his shoulder go and opened the door for Ulrich.

"Will you help me if I decide to stay?" Ulrich asked then started to walk for the door.

"If you stay, you can help me, tell me any information you get. Or Uri Salvareo, he's the only cop in this city. Stay out of sight, when your body didn't turn up in the morgue, he probably figured out you weren't dead."

"I got that much already," Ulrich said then walked out of the door then pulled the hoody over his head and walked out.

* * *

Ulrich knocked on the door to the house, the noise that shook Yumi awake from the couch. Yumi's head lifted off of the pillow with a thumbing heartbeat after having a bad dream. Looking at the door she saw a shadow from the porch light and then stood up slowly from the couch. It was almost midnight, so she slowly crept to the door. It knocked again softly and Yumi opened the blinds and saw Ulrich pulling down the hood and she let out a sigh of relief and undid the chain, unlocked the dead bolt, then turned the lock mechanism on the handle to let Ulrich in the house. 

"I thought I was going to have to sneak in through you're window again," Ulrich said then walked into the house and took off the hoody. Yumi closed the door and relocked everything and looked back at him. Ulrich through the hoody on the couch and was wrapped into a hug by Yumi who pressed her face deeped into his shoulder.

"Where did you have to go so bad you needed to risk your life?" Yumi asked into his shoulder then let herself breath again to look at his face.

"I talked to a detective who's on the Wilkenson case. He asked me to help him the night I lost, I told him I was interested. I didn't make you that worried did I?" Ulrich asked Yumi who nodded softly then placed her head into his shoulder again.

"He thinks it's a good idea if I leave and don't come back," Ulrich said, making her leave.

"Leave? Don't leave again, you didn't even say goodbye last time," Yumi said then sighed into his shirt.

"I'm not going to leave until I get this matter settled. Things might get dangerous from here out Yumi. Very dangerous, and I don't want you or Hiroki to get hurt. I think I should leave here. I'll come back when I'm done," Ulrich said and Yumi shook her head.

"No, I'm helping," Yumi said firmly.

"What about Hiroki, he's in danger if you help me. Think about him first," Ulrich said then walked with Yumi over to the couch and sat down.

"Don't leave Ulrich," Hiroki said while leaning against the door frame of the room, "If I get hurt, it was my fault."

"Hiroki," Ulrich said then looked over at Yumi who shrugged.

"We just voted, you're staying. Get some rest," Yumi said then pointed at the stairs. Ulrich sighed then stood up from the couch and walked across the living room and into the hallway were the stairwell was. Yumi followed him to his room were he sat on the futon and pulled his shoes off, something he should have done at the door.

"Yumi, I'm sorry about how shy was in jr high," Ulrich said, because he knew that was the only reason the two never started any form of major relationship. Yumi always felt like she wasn't giving him enough of a reason, so felt it was her fault.

"I'm just mad I never got to kiss you. Sissi got to kiss you, twice if I remember," Yumi said with a smile and a shrug.

'_She's done a lot more than kiss since then,' _Ulrich said to himself then shrugged himself. Yumi leaned over uninvited, but not unwanted and kiss him on the lips. She let his lips go just when he started to kiss back and smiled.

"Let's just say that's making up for lost time," Yumi said then stood up from the futon and walked to the door, "Good night Ulrich," Yumi said then shut the door.

Ulrich felt his lips and noticed he was smiling. He fell back to the pillow and laughed.

"About fucking time," He said before he closed his eyes to attempt sleeping.


	16. The Test

Lyoko wasn't at all what it was the last time they had come. And even that time lyoko wasn't itself either. No more desert, no more forest, no more ice, only the mountain sector had minor changes. Nothing was as it was. The digital world had changed into a new world entirely.

Odd virtualized above the ground and dropped down to his feet where he began to look around. He had landed on the outskirts of a village that was below them down a hill and across the paved footpath. Suddenly Odd heard someone scream and a series of thuds through a tree behind him as Sissi crashed to the ground. She didn't move immediately, but after a few seconds Odd saw her arm twitch and her slowly start to stand up.

"A little touchy don't you think," Sissi said then scraped herself off, "I think she made me appear there on purpose."

"She's a little protective," Odd said then heard wings flapping above him. He looked up and saw a dragon with a long neck and grey scales soar at the tree line, causing a gust to blow by, "Someone had to have programmed that thing."

Odd pulled the gun from his shoulder and aimed it up at the dragon before Aelita came on.

"Don't Odd, we came here to talk, not destroy a dragon," Aelita said and Odd lowered his gun.

"What's the point if I can't play with a big gun," Odd said then placed it back on his shoulder and sighed. Sissi looked at the glow of her palms and tried to remember what to do to use her powers.

"Hey Odd," Sissi said to Odd who turned and faced her. She had a rocket launcher mounted over her shoulder, but was holding it as if it weighed one once.

"My gun's bigger," Sissi said then made the rocket launcher vanish and she laughed to herself. Odd just shook his head at her while Aelita rolled her eyes.

"There might be people in the village. Whatever people means in this place, see if you can gather any info," Aelita said. Odd gestured to Sissi for them to move out and they walked down the hill and began to walk to the village.

"What sector are we supposed to be in?" Odd asked.

"They remodeled the forest sector. This place is a gamers wet dream. With the computer's abilities the details of everything is simply astounding even to the things I've seen," Aelita said then continued to scan the sector for anything else worth interest.

"Keep us posted if anything weird pops up. Like a dragon or something," Odd said as he finally watched the grey one get too far away to see.

"Got it," Aelita said then leaned into her seat and kept monitoring for anything one step above weird. Weird wasn't exactly uncommon here enough to notice.

* * *

Odd and Sissi reached the village after a minute and examined the village. It seemed deserted, or the people simply hadn't been programmed yet. Odd looked at Sissi who shrugged and gestured for him to lead the way. Nothing was here, and that scared Odd more than something.

After taking three steps on the cobble stone trail Odd saw a shadow appear from behind him. Odd quickly turned around and was slammed into one of the wooden buildings as Sissi startled, jumped back as Odd slid to the ground and groaned.

"He came out of no where," Aelita said to Odd who stood up and aimed the gun up.

"No, really," Odd said then waited for whatever the cloaked shadow was to attack again.

"Didn't I warn you once to never come here again," the shadow said to them in a generic dark voice.

"Where are you operating from. We're not here to get in your way, we're here to find out what you're doing so we can stop worrying," Odd said as Sissi made a gun appear, but was so scared she couldn't concentrate on anything bigger than a pistol.

"I don't tell anyone who isn't worthy," the shadow said to them as it floated up and down, bobbing like a balloon tied down in the wind.

"What if we beat your game, complete any challenge you throw at us. Tell me then," Odd said then lowered the gun slightly.

"Very well, you're task may sound simple, but isn't as it seems. Talk to the trader at the southern end of town, she has a request for you," the shadow said then vanished. As he did, people suddenly appeared and Odd and Sissi looked at each other puzzled.

"Freaky," Sissi said then looked around at everyone, "Not bad for a game, most of the time they reuse character designs," Sissi said then looked at Odd who looked puzzled that she knew that, "So I've heard."

"Aelita, what side of town are we on?" Odd asked as he examined the people.

"Eastern, head down the street and take a left at the four way intersection. There should be a stage in the center of that," Aelita said then tried to figure out how the people appeared so suddenly.

Odd and Sissi proceeded down the street and arrived at the stage Aelita had mentioned. It was a stage raised on stilts used for public executions. There was a chin rest for a beheading, a guillotine with a basket on one end, and of course a noose with a trap floor. No executions today however.

"Mid evil? That's not very original," Odd said as he walked passed some people who didn't address the fact they existed.

"The trade shop or whatever should be on your left about five buildings down. Can't miss the sign," Aelita said and Odd turned his head to the left and tried to find it. It was a large sign that had neon lights on it, flashing the word trade shop all of the colors of the rainbow.

"Mid evil and neon lights, this place never ceases to confuse me," Odd said then walked toward the building and pushed open the door, "Let's see what this bastard has for us."

A light mist filled the store that was dimly lit by light penetrating the blinds. Random things were placed around from empty bottles, weapons, bags, and clothing. Odd looked around the room and saw a woman with her back to him organizing the items on a shelf before she turned and faced him.

"You're the ones the masters have told to complete my test. Interesting," The woman said then turned around and began to organize again. The woman was middle aged and seemed like she had some injury because when she moved it seemed like her entire body was limping.

"Whoever the masters are, I guess that's why we're here," Odd said then waited for her to address them again.

"Good, very good," she said then walked across her shop and stepped next to a large shelf and gave it a shove on the leg. A small chest fell from the top and she caught it with one hand and then laid it down on a table placed near the right side wall. "Come."

Odd and Sissi shrugged to each other and then walked to the table and watched the woman open the box. Inside was a plain key and a map.

"Deep in the mountains is a shrine guarded by the grey dragon who you might have seen gliding across the skies. In that shrine is what is called the scepter of Carthage, which is the key to access the Carthage dungeons. Retrieve that for me, and the masters will grant you audience."

"That's it?" Odd asked a little disappointed by the challenge part of it. It didn't seem challenging.

"This is the key to the shrine, and the map that will show you the way. I await your return," The woman said then walked away from the table as Odd picked up both the key and map. Sissi looked at Odd then back at the woman was went back to organizing stuff.

"Let's leave the city, if I know this place, a tower is hidden somewhere," Odd said then walked toward the door and Sissi followed.

"Tower?" Sissi asked.

"Never mind," Odd said then stepped out of the store and proceeded to leave the town with Sissi confused as ever.

* * *

"Well Odd, you were right, the towers couldn't be successfully removed, so they built things over them. Look for a really big tree due north," Aelita said as she saw that a tower was nearby the village. Sitting in the lab was boring for her since this usually wasn't her job.

Looking over the system she decided to check out the conditions of Sissi and Odd. When she pulled up the characters in the computer, three were there, not two. Odd, Sissi, and Jeremie. Aelita clicked on his card and searched for his location, she saw Odd walking on the screen.

"Odd, it says Jeremie is in the computer right now, but I don't see him on the search. All I find is you," Aelita said then waited for Odd to say something.

"No idea," Odd said then saw the big tree finally.

The tree was roughly the height of the towers in the lyoko. Odd walked over to the trunk and touched it, to see that he phased through it.

"Found the tower, moving to the mountain sector," Odd said then stepped into the tower. Sissi carefully reached for the trunk but Odd hands popped back out and grabbed her wrist, "Come on."

Odd and Sissi stood at the bridge and looked straight down into the system. Odd looked up at Sissi and nodded.

"No way, I'm not jumping down there," Sissi said then stepped back from the edge and realized the other one was close too, "Whoa."

"Sorry," Odd said then nudged her off then jumped after her. After traveling through for a few moments they touched down into another tower and Sissi landed on her stomach.

"You asshole!" Sissi shouted then stood up and punched Odd in the arm. Odd just laughed a little then walked out of the tower and looked at the new mountain sector.

The cliffs were higher and still suspended above nothing. Paths were crisscrossing like always and a large mountain island was floating above the entire thing. Odd had a feeling that was the shrine.

"Odd, something is coming at you!" Aelita shouted and Odd looked around for something. Odd heard the sound of flapping and looked up and saw the grey dragon from earlier. This time it was nose diving at them full speed.

Sissi stepped out the tower still mad at Odd but then saw the dragon. Odd ducked as it drove by him, and now it was coming right for Sissi. Sissi placed her face behind her arms and then felt something crash in front of her. The dragon fell down the cliff and flapped its wings to lift back up and fly for another dive.

"That power is handy, you just created a giant shield," Odd said since Sissi seemed to have had no idea what she just did.

"Odd listen up, I found a way to get to the shrine. Look up, do you see a long cliff edge that seems to be aimed directly at the shrine?" Aelita asked. Odd looked up and saw a jagged edge jutting out of the mountain toward the shrine.

"Got it," Odd said.

"There's a place to put the key up there. The map is for the inside of the shrine. Get to the top," Aelita said and Odd looked for a way to climb.

"Did you get that Sissi?" Odd asked and Sissi nodded and made pick axes appear in her hands. She then stabbed them into the cliff side and began to climb up.

"That's handy," Odd said then saw the dragon circling for another dive, "I have a better way."

The dragon dove at Odd who stood ready to move. The moment the dragon was near Odd shot at the dragon's wings, making it slam to the ground short of him. Odd then jumped on its back and held on to it's neck as it took off trying to shake him off. The dragon spun around in the air like an acrobat but Odd held on strong.

When Odd was even with the cliff he jumped off and landed on the ledge the same time Sissi arrived up.

"Cheater," Sissi said then saw the dragon circling back. Odd looked back and saw the dragon dive down again. It swooped down and missed, but struck Odd with its tail, making him fall of off the cliff to the ground below.

"Odd you just lost sixty points, not good," Aelita said before the dragons foot stomped on Odd, devirtualizing him, "Dammit!"

Sissi saw the dragon look up at her and take to the air again, coming right for her. Sissi back away from the edge of the cliff and saw the key on the ground where Odd had been knocked off from. Looking around she saw a pedestal against the cliff side with a keyhole. She inserted the key and turned, and then felt the ground shake.

Pieces of the cliff broke off and floated to the tip of the ledge to form a path. The dragon crashed into one of the stones and fell back but readied a dive by rising high again. Sissi decided to run across the forming path as the dragon circled looking for it's best opportunity. The Shrine was only fifty away. The dragon dove.

Sissi didn't look up at the sky. She had to look straight to get there before the dragon hit. She saw her shadow get covered by a bigger shadow that was getting smaller and smaller. It was closing in and fast. Twenty feet away, and now she could see edges of light on the shadow, she could identify what the shadow was if she didn't already know. Ten feet, five, and then she turned around. The dragon was ten feet away. Sissi raised her arms up to guard and her shield appeared again.

The force of the hit knocked her off of her feet and toward the shrine. She hit the steps on the outside and watched the dragon laying on the path, trying to shake off that hit. Sissi deciding to take her chance, ran though the gates of the shrine and the doors closed by themselves behind her.

* * *

**_Here's a funny story from yesterday. I went to a Best Buy and parked near the back since I was going to eat afterward and the restraunt was right there(Arby's). After lunch I pull of of my space faster than I should have and my car died. I try to start it again as I'm still rolling, but it's not in park. I put it in park, start the car, and right when I get it into drive, I crashed into a pole. Now I owe my dad money but the damage is less than the deductable so the insurance company wasn't called which means my coverage won't go up._**


	17. No more hiding

Ulrich woke up in Yumi's room like he had for almost another week. Sitting up slowly he looked at the door that was open with a slight view of the hallway. Standing up he left the room pushed the door open and looked down the hallway. No one was in site so he stepped into the hallway and walked down to Yumi's fathers room. He turned the knob, pushed the door open and walked into the bedroom.

The room hadn't been touched since Mr. Ishiyama was killed. The bed was still made, his dresser had dust collecting on it and his closet was shut. Ulrich looked at pictures on the night stand, not one of his exwife, just pictures of Yumi and Hiroki were they were younger, no pictures from the last ten years. As if he didn't want to age in his mind, and always wanted to see them this young.

Walking to the closet Ulrich slid the door open and looked inside. Ironed shirts were hung on the racks, and small shelves were inside with ironed pants laid on them. On the ground were four pairs of shoes for work and casual days. On the top shelves were boxes filled with miscellaneous this and that. Reaching up, Ulrich looked back at the open door, then turned around again and grabbed the first box. The pictures of the wife were found, nothing interesting however.

Ulrich placed the first box back and grabbed the second box. Inside were receipts and bank records, organized with folders, that were organized with dividers. Each folder a year, each divider a month. Nothing interesting still.

In the third box, was a small wooden box. Ulrich placed the big box on the ground and opened the little box. Inside the box was a revolver with a box of ammunition. Ulrich looked at the gun and opened the revolver to check for bullets, empty as he thought. Ulrich filled all six holes with a bullet, placed a single bullet in his pocket, and closed the revolver and aimed the gun at the wall.

Ulrich had wasted enough time hiding. He had decided that two nights ago, but could never be alone in the house long enough all weekend to go and see if Mr. Ishiyama hid a gun somewhere. Hiroki was at school and Yumi was at work, so he finally had time. Pulling up the back of his shirt and sliding the gun into the waist of his jeans, Ulrich left the room and walked down stairs.

Ulrich didn't even leave Yumi a note saying he might not come back. No what if, or don't worry to ease her mind. Nothing at all. All he did was lock the door on the way out.

* * *

It was still daylight when Ulrich left the house and walked down the street. Fourteen blocks to go. He was so close to the club the entire time, he didn't even think about it till then. Till now he was more than happy staying with Yumi in hiding, but he couldn't hide forever. They'd find him eventually, and when that happened Yumi would be in danger. So he had to take the fight to Wilkenson's door before it arrived at Yumi's. 

Ulrich walked the fourteen blocks with his heart racing. The entire time thinking he was out of his mind. How many people were at the club right now. The club didn't open till dark, it might minimize the guard. Then again, during the party he could blend with the crowd. Then he thought, maybe everyone was at Wilkenson's, waiting for the club to open. Too late to turn back now Ulrich thought, even though it was more than possible.

Looking around the corner of the alley Ulrich looked at the doorway to the club. Three guards, talking to each other. Some random guy walked over, handed over money and stuffed his pocket with god knows what and walked away. Ulrich placed his back to the wall and took in a breath. He continued to breathe heavily and closed his eyes to calm down. He had to do this. He had to kill Wilkenson, to end it once and for all.

Ulrich with his heart still in his throat walked around the corner. One of the guards saw him and looked at him. So far, they hadn't recognized him.

"Club ain't open yet. If you want the party to start earlier, we're holding everything right now," The man said and opened his coat to show Ulrich the drugs. Pot, coke, meth, shrooms, name it.

"I need to speak to Wilkenson, he called me in," Ulrich said and kept his right hand ready to grab the gun.

"Wilkenson didn't say anything about someone coming to see him. He's busy, doesn't need anyone bugging him right now," The second guard said.

"Thanks for telling me he's here," Ulrich said and pulled the gun out. The third man reached for his gun but Ulrich pulled the lever back and aimed it at him, "Guns on the ground, now."

"Look kid, you shoot us, your life is over," The second guard said and took a step back with his hands level with his head.

"No, if I shoot you, your life is over. Guns on the ground," Ulrich said as the third reached for his gun.

"Slowly," Ulrich said. The third pulled his gun out and Ulrich watched him. The second drew his gun quickly and aimed to shoot before Ulrich switched his aim to him and fired. The shot hit him center chest and he fell back. The third aimed up and fired, hitting Ulrich in the left arm. Ulrich shouted and fired, hitting the third in the head then aimed it back at the first.

"Get on the ground now," Ulrich said as the first guard quickly hit the ground. Ulrich searched him and found his gun in his coat, then kicked him in the face, knocking him unconscious. Ulrich placed the first guards gun on his back waist and picked up another gun and began to trot down the stairs while looking at his arm. The bullet hit the side of the arm, but didn't hit the bone, all flesh. Still stung like a bitch though.

"Mark, what the hell is going on up there!?" A man shouted from behind the door at the bottom of the steps. Ulrich stood at the door and aimed the gun up. When it opened, he had the gun to the mans head.

"Don't move, don't breath, mess that up, you'll be dead before you even realize you messed up," Ulrich said and shoved the barrel into the mans skull to push him back into the club. Ulrich took his weapon turned him around and grabbed his neck to use his body as a shield to guide his way in.

"Where is everyone?" Ulrich asked his hostage.

"At the door outside, seems they aren't going to help," The man said.

"Where's Wilkenson?" Ulrich asked. The man pointed at a closed door behind the cage and Ulrich hit him with the butt of the pistol and began to move to Wilkenson's office.

* * *

Yumi came home and saw that the living room had been untouched. Maybe Ulrich was still asleep she thought. Hiroki didn't get off school for another twenty minutes, so they'd be alone for a little. 

"Ulrich?" Yumi asked then began to walk upstairs. She walked through the hallway and pushed her door open. "Ulrich?" She asked again before she saw that her bed was empty.

"Where are you?" Yumi asked and then looked down the hall. Her fathers room was open. She hadn't opened that since she got back.

"Ulrich?" Yumi asked then walked to her fathers room and looked in. No one was in the room, but his closet door was open. A box was at the door so Yumi walked in to investigate the box. Not much was inside but another small wooden box. She opened the box and found nothing but a open pack of rounds.

Yumi dropped the box into the box and walked back to her fathers bed and sat down. She looked at the box and pieced it all together. Ulrich wasn't here, the revolver was missing, and rounds were gone. 'What would you do if he found you?' Yumi remembered asking. 'Kill him, plain and simple.' Ulrich responded. Yumi cried into her palms just from thinking Ulrich as a killer. She knew why he left now, he was going to kill Wilkenson.

* * *

A knock came at Wilkenson's door as he was on his couch with his pants to his ankles. A women was between his legs, moving her head back and forth with his hand in her hair. 

"I said not to bother me!" Wilkenson shouted and continued to enjoy. The knock came louder and Wilkenson pushed the women away and pulled his pants up and zipped, "This better be pretty god damn important!"

Mr. Wilkenson opened the door and pushed back into the room by Ulrich. The women screamed when she saw the gun and Ulrich pointed it at her.

"Do me a favor and leave sweety," Ulrich said since the girl looked in her teens, "The grown ups are talking now." The women ran out of the room and Ulrich slapped Wilkenson in the face with the side of the revolver.

"Remember me?" Ulrich said then kneed him the stomach and threw him at the couch, "After that I hope I'm coming back very vividly."

"How in the hell are you alive?" Wilkenson asked before slapped him with the gun again, breaking his nose and throwing him off the couch and onto the ground.

"That doesn't matter right now, all that matters is that when I leave, you'll be dead," Ulrich said then kicked him in the stomach, and picked him up by his collar.

"You don't have the balls to kill me," Wilkenson said with hot blood rolling off of his chin.

Ulrich threw him in the wall and slapped him in the face with the gun again, cutting open his face and drenching his face with more blood.

"I really should just kill you here," Ulrich said and slapped him in the face again, "Remember when you said that. You'd be doing this world a favor," Ulrich said and pressed the gun to his skull, "No one would miss, Mr. Wilkenson."

Ulrich pulled the lever back and sank the barrel into his skull, the skin stretching firm. Ulrich hand was trembling as he tired to pull the trigger. He heard the room echo a million times, he imagined his blood shoot over the wall and onto the ceiling. And then he realized he was still trying to pull the trigger. Ulrich began to breathe deep again, he gritted his teeth and when he exhaled it sounded like a hiss.

"You don't have the balls," Wilkenson said, and Ulrich let his head go, "Told you."

Ulrich slapped him with the butt of the gun, knocking him unconscious and stoop up he kicked the couch in frustration and looked back at Wilkenson.

"Shit," Ulrich said and walked out of the room and walked through the club. The man was still on the ground unconscious so Ulrich stepped over him and climbed up the stairs. He was so flustered, he didn't even noticed two bodies at the top. The third was waiting for him, not to kill him, but to find out where he was going so they could do it later.

* * *

It was almost midnight when Ulrich walked into Yumi's house. Yumi was on the couch crying still when she looked up and saw him. Yumi stood up and looked Ulrich in the eye as he placed the gun on the table and looked back at her. 

"Did you?" Yumi asked, and Ulrich kept his eye contact. After several moments, he shook his head.

"I couldn't do it," Ulrich said and walked into the living room.

"You didn't kill him?" Yumi asked.

"No," Ulrich said and sat on the couch.

"I'm glad," Yumi said and sat next to him.

"We might want to leave town. Sooner or later he'll find me here," Ulrich said and looked at her, "Especially after the fact I just beat the shit out of him."

"As long as we leave together," Yumi said and smiled the weakest smile she could muster. There wasn't much to be happy about. Yumi quickly leaned over and kissed him, and Ulrich kissed her back before her lips hit his.

"Ulrich, the only thing I regret about not being a virgin, is that I didn't lose it to you," Yumi said with a smile.

"Life sucks huh," Ulrich said and began to lean her onto the couch. Without even realized it, they were undressing each other, and walking toward the bedroom. They reached the stairs and stumbled to the room, where Ulrich threw her on the futon and rested his body over hers.

Clothes were flung over the bed, landing on the floor. Shirts, jeans, socks, and soon undergarments. Yumi wrapped her legs over his back tightly, and scratched down his back, making Ulrich grip the sheet next to her tight, and then hug his arms around her back. Nothing seemed to matter anymore. They didn't even know that the guard from the door, had followed Ulrich all the way home.

* * *

**_The mass update of my code lyoko stories came a little slower than I thought, I got stuck with my family longer than I thought I would. Anyway, the mass update includes Time Line and Not So fast if you're a fan of more of my stuff. Happy Holidays everyone, be safe, and go easy on the egg nog._**


End file.
